Blue, Gold, and Pale
by Zinfer
Summary: The SH crew stumble upon a giant sky-tree inhabited by what seem to be civilized and kindhearted man-apes; but the true history behind this paradise proves to be much more sinister, sending them smack in the middle of the dark history of the inhabitants.
1. Chapter 1

Epilogue

Luffy was perched happily on the head of the Merry Go, the wind blowing fiercely enough to send his hat off his head, batting rapidly against the pull of each gust and the jerk of the string securing it to the pirate's neck. The crew had set sail away from the pear-shaped island of their last confrontation almost a week ago and things had just about returned to their usual routine; that was unless they counted Luffy taking a dive into the sea every few hours to show off his newly-won ability to swim. On more than one occasion he had come close to becoming sea-king chow, once actually getting caught in the jaws of one particularly quick eel. No real damage was done since the crew was usually on guard for their captain's sudden impulses, ever ready to raise the sails so not to leave him behind and armed for any deep-sea threat.

Now Zoro walked the deck, waking from an enjoyable nap to see his captain alone at the bow of the ship. He had often wondered what was going through his friend's head when he sat alone up there. The boy was so spacey most of the time, but on those rare occasions where it was necessary Luffy would reveal a hidden wisdom that led the swordsman to wonder about the true character of the man he called captain. Did he sit on that figurehead just enjoying the fresh-air of the sea or did he ponder life, their quest for the One Piece, his dreams. Usually he concluded the boy just zoned out up there due to the numerous times Luffy had proven to not to be thinking as deeply as Zoro had given him credit for and he would rather be pleasantly surprised than disappointed.

On this occasion, be it Luffy was deep in thought or not, Zoro needed to talk to his friend. Though Luffy had let go of their argument from those weeks before (as expected), Zoro felt that it needed to be addressed. In all honesty he didn't know if he wanted to convince Luffy that he had been in the wrong for asking them to leave him behind or to apologize for arguing against his authority. Either way it would be incredibly awkward to bring up but it wasn't something he was willing to ignore.

"Oi Luffy, got a minute?" he asked, feeling overly-casual for some reason.

Luffy laughed, throwing him for a moment as he turned his head to look him in the eye.

"Did I look particularly busy?" the boy replied with the cock of an eyebrow and a grin.

It was Zoro's turn to smile, breaking eye-contact and chuckling "I guess not."

"What's up?" Luffy asked, jumping up to turn his body to face his crewmate as he gripped the ram horns with his hands and letting his feet dangle precariously over the water below. He did it on purpose, Zoro knew. Every chance the boy could get to risk a plunge into the sea he took, yet it still unnerved him a bit to see his captain set so unsecured over the surf breaking into the ship.

"I need to talk to you about our… disagreement a few weeks ago over us leaving you behind at that island."

Luffy frowned.

"We can't have that happen and ignore it ever did. You made an incredibly selfish decision for all of us and I went questioned your authority… I should have never gone against your command, it's as close to mutiny as I've ever come and-"

"Oi Zoro, it was nothing like mutiny. That's a stupid thing to say."

"Well what would you call it?"

"You were arguing with me, simple as that. Mutiny happens when a crewmate makes plans without the captain's consent; you were trying to get my consent…. And how can you say my decision was selfish! I made it with only your goals in mind, it was rational."

Luffy sounded defensive and… possibly hurt? Well this wasn't exactly the calm organized discussion Zoro had planned it to be.

"I know it was rational, and I admire the thought you put into it and your willingness to put our dreams ahead of yours, but even suggesting we leave you behind was an insult to our loyalty and nakamaship. It was selfish because it forced us to be disloyal no matter how we responded."

There was a pause as Zoro regained his composure, still trying to keep the discussion reigned in and controlled. Luffy looked down, his expression switching between anger and shame as he studied the white wood he rested upon. When he didn't speak Zoro continued.

"I was wrong to call your decision selfish, you're right. You did it with the best intentions for us, but you forgot to include our friendship and your importance in our lives in your rationing." He sighed, leaning forward to force his captain's eyes back to his and placed his hand on the messy raven hair on his head.

"All I'm saying is that your happiness is a major factor in our happiness, so include it the next time you make a big decision… and I'm sorry I went against your authority in front of the crew. It was disrespectful."

Luffy's face was hard to read but his brows uncreased where they were furrowed and there was understanding he could detect in the boy's black eyes.

"Being a captain is harder than I thought" Luffy finally replied, a smile quirking at the corners of his mouth.

"Well you're doing a great job" Zoro said as he removed his hand and straightened up; "I've yet to see a captain of your quality since I set out to sea."

Luffy's face flushed as he beamed at his first-mate, clearly pleased.

"Hey! I think I see something in the water!"

The shout came from the crow's nest where Usopp was taking his turn as look-out. He was pointing off towards the starboard side of the ship at a small shape floating on the choppy waves a hundred yards out.

"Can you tell what it is?" Nami shouted from her lounge-chair, lowering a drink from her lips.

"It looks kind of like a small boat! I can't really tell from here but I think there's someone on board!"

That was all the motivation Luffy needed to pop up from his seat and shoot an arm out, snagging the mystery object from the waves and sending it flying back in their direction. The projectile would have struck Zoro and Chopper both if they hadn't already experienced the consequences of getting in their captain's line of fire. They both easily slipped out of the way as the long wooden object crash-landed onto the deck.

A few of them took a moment of caution, not walking directly up to the gnarled wood before them, but Luffy scrambled right up, peeking over the edge into the hollowed out interior of a makeshift dingy.

"Guys! It's a monkey! There's a monkey in this boat!"

The crew cocked their heads in unison at his statement. Caution tossed to the wind, they all wondered to the spectacle in the middle of their deck.

It wasn't a monkey; not exactly. It looked more like a human with shaggy bangs, long hanging sideburns, excessively harry and calloused hands and a tail; a spotted tail that looked like it's patterning belonged to a Dalmatian but it's anatomy was that of a monkey. The boy looked to be in his early twenties, and despite his monkey-like features he had a very human face and figure aside from his flattened nose. Every inch of his fur was a silver-blue color, even the tail where it was a bit lighter and the black speckles broke up the solid hue.

"Is he alive?" Sanji asked, peering closer at the unconscious specimen.

Chopper scurried forward, successfully remembering that he was in-fact a doctor.

"Yes" he squeaked, feeling for a pulse then turning the boy over to his back. That was when they all got a sickening view of his arms and chest which were covered in deep gouges and scrapes. He had been bleeding a lot as some point but it all seemed to have dried up since, leaving dirty scabs to cover up the damage done.

"Oh my gosh" Nami gasped, covering her mouth.

"We need to get these cared for" Chopper said, stating the obvious as he transformed into his monster form, lifting the limp figure with him. "Usopp, could you go get my medical kit? I'll take him to the bed- LUFFY! Don't mess with his tail! He's gravely injured!"

"But his tail is fine!" Luffy whined, lowering his hand from where he'd been curling the long appendage.

"Try to give the injured some dignity" the reindeer scolded, turning his shoulder to keep the figure from the boy's view and walking away.

"Uhgg, no fun" Luffy pouted, his face sour as he turned to look back out to sea.

His expression changed immediately as he looked to the horizon, his scowl exploding into an expression that was so excited it looked to be borderline terrified.

"GUYS! We've made it to the bottom side of the earth!"

TBC… in _Blue, Gold, and Pale_

Wow guys, I can't thank you all enough for your support though "For Nakama." You've really encouraged me to keep writing and here we are, another One Piece fic on the way. It's gonna be intense and hopefully not quite as long as this one, but you never know XD

This next one involved a lot more planning and character/location design so please hop on over and enjoy it when I post it. The first chapter will be this one so don't get too confused thinking "wait, she already wrote this."

I know I didn't manage to get to all of you in my thank you's last chapter, and I'm sure I'll continue to do so by accident but here goes a few more.

HeroR- Hope you're still around I'll have you know your advice regarding the long speeches I was making Luffy give was a great help. It was totally out of character and when I write this next fic I'll keep that in mind. I also really want to go back and fix that in my earlier chapters here but I have so many new ideas I just don't know when I'll get to that. Thank you again!

Red Voident Dragon- yay! Thank you so much! Here's an epilogue! And I hope you stick around to read another fic ^_^ and I am honored to have introduced you to this world of fanfiction

XFangHeartX- yay! Thank you for keeping me going! It had been my pleasure

Pirate Queen of the 21st Century- awwwwwwww, thank you! Here is my epilogue and I hope you enjoy the next story

Chaos Is Order- Here's the Epilogue! I hope you stuck around to read it! Thanks so much for he support!

MetaLatias- lol! Hopefully this next one won't take 6 years XD thank you for reading through this incredibly long work. You're awesome! I hope you're still around to read my next one. Thank you!

GGCharms/Luffylover- Thank you so much! Your reviews have made me very happy! I would love to have you join me in another round of OP fanfic if you're up to it

X3ArumixIzumix3- I bet you really thought I was dead now, but here I am! Back! Here is my continuation/epilogue! I hope you're still around to read it you've been great! Thanks for the encouragement!

Darkness34- Thank you again for all of your wonderful support! I really hope you'll join me for this next fic, I'll need all the kicks to keep me going I can get and you're so good at that

- my pleasure! Thank you for taking the time to review ^_^ hope you stick around for the next one.

Caring16- -^_^- I'm so glad you were moved! That's totally my goal! I really hope you did wait forever and are still around! I would be heartbroken to update and not have your wonderful support to keep me going!

EALM528- here I go again! Hopefully this won't take me 6 years to complete XD I think if I have you guys pushing me I can get through really quick. Thank you so much for making this possible, I don't think I'd have the motivation to keep going without u. Please join me in my next fic ^_^ u would be a welcome companion on my quest to create more OP adventure when 1 chapter a week isn't enough.

Chibi-Onee-chan- dawwwww, thank you! I am super-flattered! Here's my epilogue if you're still looking to read it ^_^ thanks for taking the time to review`!

Kitty-bandit- T_T oh my gosh! I luv u so much! You really made this fic move with your awesome and so much appreciated support! I love your enthusiasm and it makes me want to make these chapters as enjoyable as possible to read. Please please please join me on this next adventure my good friend I hope you enjoy this epilogue and I will seriously be able to finish this next one with you at my back. Thanks again, for everything

Orgasmic Bunnies- interesting name XD thank you so much! I loved my virtual chocolate! I hope you've stuck around for the epilogue, at least to read my thanks XD

Rukiaathen- yay! Tears! That's what I'm going for! Woooo! 100 stars! What'll I do with them all! Thank you so much for taking the time to review my last-ish chapter ^_^ hope you enjoy the epilogue

Anime lover 3593- yay! I'm so glad you finished with me! You have been such a wonderful reader! Your support has really made all of this so fun and exciting to write. I hope you're still around to join me in another adventure. Either way you've been great and I'm so glad you enjoyed my "little" fic.

Aslef101- the magic of plot-holes… and the magic of seastone… yes, because… seastone allows you to control your bladder… _

LOVE THIS SO MUCH- I'm so glad you kept coming back to life to keep reading ^_^ thanks so much for taking the time to review! It has been a pleasure

Roxy12333- dawww -^_^- thank you! And thank you for reviewing individual chapters even though you coulda waited to the end. It means a lot to get reviews throughout the fic I really would love to see your fanart if you've still planned on making some XD thanks again! Hope you join me in my next fic!

0HorrorMasterOfTheUniverse0- thank you! And thank you for reviewing as you read! Hope you enjoyed the rest and will stick around for my sequel

Clarobell- thank you soooo much for the helpful advice! I really appreciate you're critique! You're right about everything, this fic definitely needs some editing done. I will apply that advice to me next fic too, cause I'm sure to make the same mistakes again XD please feel free to hurt my feelings all you want, I need to learn somehow ^_^ I'm hoping this next fic will be better from the start. Thanks again!

Once again! Thank you all! Hope you enjoyed!


	2. The Tree

**So far: Crew has picked up an unconscious monkey-humanoid. Chapter ended with Luffy claiming they were at the bottom of the world.**

** THE TREE  
**

"WHAT!" Usopp exclaimed, rushing over to Luffy to see what he was talking about. Surely his captain had lost his mind.

"That's impossible!" came the expected retort from their navigator, her voice skeptical yet a bit fearful. No matter how nonsensical the boy's statement had been, this was the Grand Line so surely whatever it was presented a cause for worry.

"But we're upside down" Luffy said, pointing ahead of him and looking back at the others. Usopp made it to his side and his expression morphed into shock, his jaw dropping.

Before them in the distance was a massive tree reaching to the sky; hundreds, possibly thousands of feet high. The enormity of it was not what took his breath away however, but the direction it was turned. Instead of branches reaching to the heavens, its roots shot out above it, crawling across the sky like veins, spreading for what must have been miles. The branches and foliage, rather than being at the top, spread out at the bottom, most of them curving up towards the sun, while the limbs closer to the sea disappeared behind a veil of fog, more than likely growing into the sea.

"Moron! The tree's upside down! Not us!" Nami shouted, smacking Luffy on the back of the head to send it bouncing down into the railing and springing back, accidentally hitting her in the face.

"GYAAA!" she roared, Usopp diving out of the way as she tore into her captain a new one.

"Oi! Hey! Not my fault!" Luffy defended, scurrying away before she could finish her rampage, now covered in bumps and bruises. She charged after him and he ran, booking it across the deck and yelling in fear.

"So we're not going to be falling up any time soon?" Zoro asked nonchalantly as he sauntered over to the railing, taking in the view of the massive tree. It was still hazy and had a faded blue color tinting it from the distance it was from them. They were still miles away.

"No, Luffy's just being an idiot again" Usopp laughed "I didn't believe him for a second!"

"Sure you didn't."

"You want me to say I'm sorry? Ok, I'm sorry! Really sorry! Come on Nami!" Luffy pleaded from the mast, keeping a good distance from the ginger-haired girl below him.

She gave him a death glare and strolled away, wandering back to where Zoro, Usopp, and now Robin were standing.

Luffy stayed where he was.

"This is a tree of legends" Robin spoke up grabbing everyone's attention. "It's called the Endure Gold, though it was once called the Endure Simianus."

"Do you think that's where that monkey kid came from?" Usopp asked, glancing over his shoulder as Sanji returned from the interior of the ship; the cook's eye widened at the view.

"It'd have to be" Zoro replied as he crossed his arms and lifted his eyes to the mass of roots covering the sky, "he didn't have hardly any rations in the boat, and what he did have he hadn't eaten yet. He couldn't have been on the sea long."

"S-so it's a dangerous tree" Usopp stuttered, shivering in fear.

"Not according to modern texts" Robin replied, bringing her hand to her chin, "it's supposed to be home to a high-class modernized civilization… Golden City I believe, its major revenue being in tourism."

Nami perked up at the term "Golden" City.

"Well it didn't look like our blue friend inside enjoyed his stay" Sanji said somberly.

"No" Robin concurred "and I would guess that he was a local. The island is supposed to be populated by monkey people, though from the texts I've read, there aren't any blue monkey's there, just Gold and Pale."

"Odd" Zoro stated.

"I don't wanna go" Usopp whined, unsettled by the unexplained injuries covering the boy's body.

"Oh man up" Sanji argued "we don't know anything about that monkey in there. He could be a criminal for all we know."

"I think long-nose has a point" Zoro countered, frowning at the blonde "remember what happened the last time we wandered into an island without caring to look into its history? We nearly got Luffy killed."

Referencing the seastone island they had just come from sparked a twinge of pain inside of each of them, the memory of their dead captain still residing in the back of their minds.

"Oh, so we're supposed to do a background check on every island we come to?" Sanji retorted bitterly, ticked that the swordsman was implying that he didn't care about their captain's protection. "You try to convince Luffy to just sail away and tell me how that goes moss-head."

Zoro scowled at the cook, stepping closer to him so that his slight height advantage gave him a look of dominance. "I'm just saying" he growled "we should know what we're getting into before waltzing into town."

"Why? You scared we can't protect each other now? Gotta measure up our enemies before we dare walk on their territory?"

"I'm not scared you dumb dart-brow! It's called common sense! Maybe if you had half of a brain you would understand that concept!"

"Why you-" the blonde growled, sending a kick for Zoro's head.

The two immediately began to trade blows over words now, replacing the verbal battle with violence.

"Nami" Robin spoke, ignoring the battle going on behind them "how long do you think we have till we reach it tree?"

The navigator looked out at the horizon, calculating in her head.

"From the looks of it, I'd guess we have a day or so."

"Ah" the historian replied smiling "so the boy will probably wake up before we get there and tell us what happened to him then."

Zoro and Sanji both paused mid-swing and looked over at them, their fight no longer holding a purpose. Glaring at each other bitterly, they straightened up and dusted themselves off, neither seriously injured.

"A few days!" Luffy cried out in dismay. He had made his way back to the group from behind and caught them all off guard by his re-appearance. Still, he kept a safe distance from his navigator, but otherwise seemed secure enough to stay on-deck.

"That's so longgg! I wanna go now!"

"Well we can't" Nami stated coldly, clearly still mad at the boy but no longer a threat.

"Ugggghhhh!" He whined, looking longingly at the distant tree.

"Don't worry Luffy" Robin said smiling "don't forget we have a curious visitor with us. I'm sure he can keep you entertained till we get there."

The captain brightened up and, as if on-cue, Chopper came running out shouting that the patient was awake. Upon seeing the behemoth of a tree ahead of them he seemed to forget what he had come out to tell the crew, but they were already rushing for the medical ward, their curiosity at a heightened level after their discussion.

Usopp stopped by the small reindeer, leaning down and telling him that they had reached the bottom of the world before running after the others.

He chuckled at the doctor's squeal of terror as he left the deck, proud of his cleverness.

Before the crowd of excited pirates barged into the room they were halted by a wall of arms.

"We don't want to scare him" Robin said, having caught everyone's attention. "Remember, he's been hurt and is probably already frightened because he doesn't know where he is. So Nami and I will go in first, make sure he won't panic, and then you boys can come in."

Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp all frowned, impatient to talk with their new guest, but they obliged knowing she was right.

Nami and Robin slowly cracked open the door, ignoring the guys fighting each other off to see through the opening, and walked in quietly. The blue monkey-human was sitting up on the bed, now efficiently covered in bandages that wrapped around his chest, stomach and arms. He spotted them immediately and tensed but didn't seem to be ready to flee yet.

"Hello" Nami said with a smile "glad to see you're awake."

It was hard to tell with the boy's long bangs hanging over his eyes but he was looking at her curiously.

"T-there was a MONSTER in here a minute ago" he said timidly, his voice smooth but hoarse, "is it going to come back?"

"Huh? Oh, you mean Chopper" Nami replied.

"He usually doesn't stay in heavy point when he's caring for patients" Robin said in confusion "and he should have known it could scare you. Sorry about that."

There was a creek of wood behind them and they knew that the boy's were growing impatient, probably all of them leaning on the wall to get a better look.

"Heavy point?" the boy asked, cocking his head "no, he was little. Looked like a raccoon… but he had those terrifying horns and he spoke!"

"Eh?" Nami grunted, a sweat-drop forming over her head. "He was small?"

"Yeah! Scary as crap though!" The monkey spoke, wrapping his arms around himself like he was trying to deal with post-traumatic-stress upon having to see their little crewmate.

**_"This guy is ridiculously cowardly"_** they all thought in unison.

"Well- uh, don't worry about him. He's completely safe" Nami said, smiling awkwardly.

"Oh" he sighed, relaxing immediately. They definitely couldn't let this get back to Chopper, it'd probably hurt his feelings.

The door started to bulge from the weight of the four male spies on the other side; they wouldn't be able to hold off much longer.

"My name is Robin" the historian spoke up, placing a hand to her chest "and this is our navigator, Nami-san" she added, motioning towards her crewmate. "What's your name?"

The ape-boy smiled warmly and answered her.

"Dalmatan… my name is Dalmatan, but you can call me Dalma."

This time they all sweat-dropped.

"D-Dalmatan?" Nami questioned, keeping her voice steady though a hint of mockery could be heard to anyone paying close attention. Dalma didn't notice.

"Like Dalmatian… but without the "I"?" she finished.

The monkey's mouth opened and he lifted his eyes in thought, then looked at them as if he had had an epiphany.

"Now that you mention it… yeah! Funny how that works out since I have spots and all. Hahahaha!"

_"Did this guy's parents have no imagination?"_

"Anyways!" he continued on, either not noticing their faces of disbelief or ignoring them, "who are you guys? How did you find me?"

Robin spoke up, "We found you in your raft out at sea. We're… sailors."

Nami was relieved that Robin had enough sense not to use the "pirate" word around the clearly-skittish boy before them.

"NO WE'RE NOT!" Luffy exclaimed, bursting though the door at last, followed by a stumbling heap of Zoro, Usopp and Sanji.

"WE'RE PIRATES! AND I'M GONNA BE KING OF THE PIRATES!"

Nami face-palmed as Dalma screamed in terror, leaping from the bed to the tall set of chester drawers a few feet away, knocking down a few decorations in the process. He looked like he would have easily been able to keep his balance when he was in normal health, but to his dismay his arms gave out and he lost his hold on his pedestal, collapsing to the floor after banging into a semi-open drawer and toppling whatever objects had managed to stay standing on the surface as he scrambled for a new grip.

Groaning, he gripped his newly banged up side, his bandages seeping red from his disturbed wounds. Whimpering he scooted back into the cabinet, no longer trying to flee but trying to keep his distance.

"Hey" Luffy said with surprise and a bit of tenderness the rest of the crew wasn't expecting "what are you scared for? We're good pirates."

Dalma's eyes darted from Luffy's face to the others behind him, seeming to consider what the captain had said.

"He's right" Sanji added, reinforcing Luffy's statement "why would we rescue you and patch you up if we intended to harm you?"

The monkey continued to look at them in doubt, but a few seconds later he had relaxed again, clearly exhausted from his escape-attempt.

"Here" Nami said, coming forward and placing a hand on his shoulder "let's get you back to the bed."

He didn't resist as she lifted him by his armpits and dragged him to the cot. The four boys in the room made awkward faces as their navigator glared back at them.

"Let's try that again" Robin said with a lighthearted smile "why don't each of you go up and introduce yourselves?"

They nodded in unison and Usopp stepped forward, sticking his nose in the air and poking his thumb at his chest.

"My name is Usopp! I am the greatest warrior to ever sail the-"

"None of your crap Usopp" Zoro growled "the boy's confused enough as it is."

Usopp's confident aura drizzled out and he sighed, dropping his head.

"I'm the crew's marksman. I'm… I'm a really good shot…"

"It's true, he is" Sanji added with a smile, trying to encourage their dejected crewmate.

"Cool" Dalma exclaimed happily, his smile making its way to his eyes. "Nice to meet you Usopp."

"My name's Sanji" said the cook, stepping up next, "I'm the ship's cook. When you try my food you won't be content with anything else again."

"Sweet! I'm starving and I can't wait to try it!" the monkey exclaimed, clapping his hands enthusiastically.

"I'm Roronoa Zoro, the crew's swordsman and first-mate."

The boy's eyes widened under his bangs and his mouth formed an "O" as he gaped at the three swords hanging from the pirate's side.

"Wooooo, do you use all of those?"

"Sure do, all at once too."

"Holy awesome! You're so cool Zoro-san!"

Zoro smirked over at Sanji, knowing that the cook would be seething at the higher level of admiration he had received. Scowling, Sanji pulled out a cigarette and made his way to the door.

"I'll go start supper" he grunted out, almost accusingly as if to say "even though you clearly don't appreciate it enough."

"And I'm Luffy! The captain!" Luffy declared happily as he stepped forward.

To everyone's surprise, Dalma shrunk back in fear, pulling his sheets up over his nose.

"What are you scared of? I told you we won't hurt you. Are you stupid or something?" Luffy demanded, cocking an eyebrow.

"Y-you have a scar" the boy replied, his voice shaking as he tried to be brave.

"What? Well yeah, but there's nothing scary about a scar."

"M-make's you scary."

**_"Doesn't he even have an explanation for that statement?"_** they all wondered to themselves.

Robin pitched in to give her captain a hand; "don't worry about Luffy-kun, he's the one that rescued you after all."

The second the historian said the word "rescued" Dalma's expression changed. Fear left his face and instead he looked at their captain with the utmost approval and appreciation.

"Thank you" he said somberly, looking Luffy in the eye through his bangs.

"Not a problem" the raven haired boy responded with a big grin.

"Now that you know about us" Robin spoke up again "would you mind telling us a bit more about yourself?"

"Yeah, sure. Excuse my manners. I'm a blue monkey from Endure Gold, spider monkey form with a Dalmatian coat-"

"Whoa! You just called yourself a monkey!" Usopp stated in confusion "but you're clearly part-human."

"Well yeah, we're definitely humanoids, but we all just call each other monkeys since it's easier that way."

"Easier? How hard is it to come up with another word?"

"Seriously" Luffy added "just calling you a monkey is boooorrrriiinngggg! I was thinking we'd call you a munchan, or a hunky."

"Those are stupid Luffy" Usopp countered.

"Though I do believe hunky applies to me quite well" Dalma pitched in with amusement.

"Ok ok ok, then how about a Glomposaurus? Or Chimplandzeee?"

"Those are even worse!" Usopp shouted, hitting Luffy in the head.

Dalma tensed at his action but as soon as Luffy began laughing he calmed again. Zoro cocked an eyebrow at Robin who had also noted the odd behavior.

"Soooo" Luffy said, grinning mischievously over at Zoro, "you're scared of scars?"

"Oh yes, they're very frighteningAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

Zoro, reading Luffy's implied prank, stepped up to the unsuspecting monkey and lifted his shirt, revealing his mutilated chest and stomach while Luffy stretched his own scar on his face, efficiently terriffying the boy in the bed.

"YOU JERKS!" Nami shouted, bringing a fist down violently onto Zoro's head, aiming for Luffy's next.

To everyone's surprise she missed her target as a flash of white and blue dashed between them, taking the captain to the ground. They all looked down in shock as the young humanoid crouched over Luffy, protectively placing himself between Nami and her victim. Dalma's eyes looked menacing, piercing blue irises peeking through his shaggy pale hair as he stared, unblinking, up at the stunned navigator. He was tense again, but this time not from fear, this time it was in an intimidating, ready to strike stance.

"Whoa whoa" Nami said, lifting her hands "no need to get worked up."

"Tell that to my head" Zoro growled, rubbing the growing bump on the back of his skull.

"Shut it Zoro, you're fine."

"Hey, Dalma" Luffy finally spoke up, his voice confused but kind "don't worry about me, I don't get hurt so easily…" he paused to think for a moment, "but if you feel like protecting me from Nami feel free to keep it up."

"I'll kill you" Nami growled scowling and raising a fist.

Dalma tensed even more and for a moment everyone wondered if he was planning on attacking the girl before him but Luffy placed a hand on his arm and he looked back confused.

"She's not serious Dalma. You can trust my crew; she's risked her life to save mine more times than I can count. It'd be pretty ridiculous for her to kill me now."

Nami's temper was gone in an instant.

_Darn him._

Dalma also seemed to calm instantly, flopping back against the side of the bed, clearly spent.

"Seems I've got myself a guard dog" Luffy said happily, surprising the monkey by lifting him up and placing him back on the bed gently.

Zoro smiled.

"Ok" Usopp whispered in his ear "no-one threaten Luffy while this guys around. He's clearly a bit overprotective."

_"No such a coward as we took him for"_ Zoro thought to himself.

Robin sat down by Dalma on the bed, still wanting answers before they left the boy to rest.

"Dalma-san, can you tell me how you got those wounds? Should we be on the look-out for a threat?"

The humanoid's eyes grew distant and a shutter made its way through his body.

"Salamanders."

Everyone cocked their heads.

""Ok, not what they were expecting.""

"They're terrible" he said, his expression hardening; Zoro recognized bitterness when he saw it. "They're huge sea-salamanders… they can climb our tree almost as well as we can… slaughtering my people. That's why I left; I had to get help."

"So Golden City is no longer safe to visit?" Robin asked, wondering why she hadn't heard news of this threat.

"Huh? Oh no, Golden City is very safe. They can't get up there… wait… why do you ask? You're not…", his eyes widened in realization.

"We're planning on stopping at Endure Golden in a day or so. You said you left to get help, so maybe they can-"

"No!" Dalma interrupted, panting heavily from exertion, his eyes glazed and panicked, "take me anywhere else! Those selfish filth up there would-"

Before he could finish his eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed onto the bed leaving the rest of the crew standing in stunned silence.

TBC…

Alrighty, hope you all enjoyed chapter two! Thank you for the support so far guys! You're all the best readers ever!

Please go back and re-read the first chapter in a day or so, I'm about to fix a few mistakes I had made, one being the visual description of Dalma.

I have one illustration up on my deviantart account so far (and hopefully more will be coming soon). I'm zinfer there too, so I shouldn't be too hard to find.

Now for my replies!

HeroR- I regret to tell you what you already know by now. This fic takes place immediately after "For Nakama" so no Brooke or Franky. I would have enjoyed the challenge of working with those awesome characters but twas not to be in this case. Maybe in the next one… in the distant future _ Thank you so much for coming back for another round! I really hope you enjoy the rest of the fic ^_^

Darkness34- thanks for coming back! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I look forward to writing more with you backing me

- You're awesome! Thank you for reviewing my Epilogue as well as getting this next fic started with your support. May you enjoy this next adventure

Kitty-bandit- My good friend! YAY! I'm so glad you're back to keep kicking me along as I get through another fic. Oh my gosh T_T I'm so moved that you checked every day *wipes away stray tear* I feel terrible to say this but this fic is a new idea. I loved your plot with the crew going back in time! It has a ton of potential to be adorable and hilarious! I haven't forgotten, but this one kinda hit me full force and I had to do it. When I finish this, please remind me again and I'll see what I can do That you so much for the encouraging two reviews! You're super awesome to post a comment on the new fic after posting on my epilogue, gets the fic off to a start. I kinda need to feel like I've got some readers backing it up to keep me sputtering along XD Till next time, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thanks again ^_^

Pirate Queen of the 21st centry- thank you! I'm really glad you enjoyed it and I hope this next fic keeps you entertained

Anon- dawww -^_^- and congrats on your new glasses! Lol, so random XD anyhow, thank you so much for the review and I hope you enjoy the rest of the fic

Roxy12333- AWOOOO! Fan art! I'm so excited! Please let me know if you have any, I'd love to see them! I'm so glad you're sticking with me for another round ^_^ do enjoy the rest of the fic

Chaos Is Order- hello again! Thanks for sticking around I'm so happy you'll be joining me again! You've been a real encouragement to me and I hope I don't disappoint. Congrats on the first review! It gave me a good kickstart and now I'm getting pumped to keep going.

Thanks to all of the rest of you for reading! Do enjoy!


	3. Sailing To Endure Golden

_So far: The crew picks up an injured Dalmatian/monkey humanoid named Dalma._

_Immediately afterwards they see a giant tree standing upside down with its roots spreading across the sky._

_Robin informs them that it is called "Endure Gold," formerly named "Endure Simianus." She also tells them of "Golden City" which is a famous port and tourist area on the tree._

_Dalma wakes up and tells them that he was injured by salamanders and that he was fleeing to get help to save his people._

_When asked if they could take him to "Golden City" to get help, Dalma panics and begs them not to take him there even though he tells them the city is safe._

**Sailing To Golden City**

"W-why wouldn't he want to go to Golden City if it's so safe?" wondered Usopp aloud as he broke the silence.

"Maybe they're having domestic troubles, a feud perhaps?" Robin pitched in, clearly wanting answers herself.

"Well there's always the possibility that he's a criminal" Zoro added "we can't be sure he's completely trustworthy yet."

The statement landed the swordsman with four glares from his crewmates.

"What? I'm just covering all the options."

"How could you say that Zoro?" Nami fumbled out "he's clearly a good guy."

"Yeah!" Luffy interjected "he's obviously trustworthy Zoro."

Zoro cocked an eyebrow "give me one good reason why we should believe that?"

"Cause he's a friggin monkey" Luffy answered like it was obvious.

"That's not a good reason moron" Usopp shouted, smacking his captain in the arm.

"His story doesn't sound like one made up on the spot" Robin said thoughtfully "… he called them selfish. Could it be that the people of Golden City are refusing to help the monkeys living in other areas of the tree? … Still, I see no reason for him to be so opposed to going there."

"I guess we'll have to wait till he wakes up to find out" Zoro sighed.

Nami turned to look at Luffy sternly and he shifted his eyes her way before she spoke.

"Either way, we need to make a decision to keep our course towards that tree or not. We don't have to stop there since the log pose isn't pointing towards it."

"No, we're going" Luffy stated sternly, his eyes leaving the others and staring confidently ahead of him.

"A-are you sure Luffy" Usopp interjected, not liking the idea one bit after finding out that the wounds the humanoid had received he had gotten at the tree.

"We're gonna go kick those salamanders' butts and help Dalma's people."

"Luffy, we just met the guy! We don't owe him anything" Usopp whined, knowing there was no changing his captain's mind.

"No, but we're gonna anyway" Luffy stated simply, making the marksman hang his head in defeat.

"Dalma doesn't want to go back there" Zoro interjected.

"We'll just leave him in the Merry till we're done."

"But I don't wanna fight salamanders" Usopp whined again.

"Oh come on" Zoro moaned "they're salamanders. How bad can they be?"

"Did you see his injuries!" Nami pitched in "they look like a friggin dinosaur got to him."

"Ok, so really big salamanders" Zoro grunted.

"Don't act like it's a small difference!" Usopp and Nami shouted at him in unison.

Luffy laughed heartily at his two crewmates.

"Don't mock us!" Nami shouted in rage, coming at him with a raised fist.

Screeching in fear Luffy quickly began to shake Dalma franticly to get between him and the angry navigator but the monkey didn't stir, leaving Luffy to fend for himself.

"Traitor" Luffy mumbled towards the unconscious monkey as a bump swelled on his head.

"He's not a shield Luffy" Usopp stated bluntly.

It was around this time that Chopper made his way back into the room; the shellshock from Usopp's deception wearing off after Sanji informed him that the tree was what was upside down. Upon realizing that Dalma was unconscious he shooed everyone out of the room as he tended to the wounds the monkey had managed to re-open in his confrontation with the cabinets.

-2 hours later-

To Sanji's disappointment, Dalma hadn't awoken in time for supper, leaving Luffy to inhale whatever extra he had prepared for the monkey. He had made quick work of cleaning up the dishes, grateful that there would always be one or two of his crewmates to volunteer to help after the meal, even the dumb swordsman.

When he made his way to the deck he saw a number of his crewmates standing at the railing taking in a breathtaking view of the sun beginning to set behind the massive tree. A pleased grin crossed his face. As he strolled to join the others he heard the distinct sound of his captain a ways behind him yelling "further Usopp! More! More!" for some reason. Cocking his eyebrow curiously he turned to see two stretched arms attached to the crow's nest leading down beyond his range of sight.

"This is a stupid idea Luffy!" Usopp squeaked, "you're not even gonna get close!"

"Shut up and keep pulling! Captain's orders" Luffy countered.

Sanji realized that his two crewmates were down by the side of the ship, Luffy being stretched as far as he could down by the sea with the assistance of his long-nosed friend. Wondering what Luffy was getting at, he looked up towards the direction his captain would be ricocheting, chuckling when he realized they had traveled far enough to be sailing under some of the far-reaching roots of the tree. They were at least a few miles up however, and there was no way his captain was going to reach them no matter how far he stretched.

He didn't say anything as he heard Luffy shout "ROCKET!" and go zipping by, a blast of air waifing in his face with the rush of the boy's rubber body redirecting the wind.

Within seconds Luffy had become a dot in the sky, his shout of excitement fading as he made distance between him and his ship. The rest of the crew watched as he reached the peak of his arc, hovering there for a moment as he stretched his arms again, flailing to reach one of the lower hanging roots that hung thousands of feet out of reach.

There was no surprise on the crew's part when he shouted in frustration and began his decent back to the awaiting ocean below.

"I told him it wouldn't work!" Usopp shouted as he climbed back up from the side of the ship from a rope he had secured before helping Luffy in his plight.

Sanji sighed, lighting a cigarette as his captain splashed into the ocean several yards away.

An alarm went off in his mind, breaking his bored fascination at his captain's thick-headedness and sending him diving in after him. It wasn't until he'd made it halfway to his captain that he realized Luffy was clumsily swimming his way.

"Dang it" he mumbled to himself, feeling like an idiot.

"Hey Sanji!" Luffy yelled happily "why'd you decide to go swimming fully clothed?"

"Shut up! And you're one to talk!"

"I didn't mean to" Luffy chuckled back "I thought I'd land back on the ship."

"Haven't you figured out a general idea of where you end up after you shoot off like that?"

His captain's response was a loud laugh as the boy swam past him, shaking his head as a wave washed over him.

As frustrated as the cook was with his captain for sending him on a wild goose-chase, Sanji couldn't help but smile a bit upon seeing the boy swimming so merrily rather than sinking helpless like he'd seen so many times before.

A few seconds later Luffy seemed to have had his fun and wrapped an arm around his cook and stretched his other to grab a hold of the Going-Merry to send them flying back to the ship.

Sanji's anger was freshly re-vamped when the echo of Zoro's gleeful laughter reached his ears. It had truly been a sucky day with the smug first-mate having more than one occasion to mock him.

"What happened curly-brow? Decide to cut your swim short?"

"That's what I was wondering" Luffy chimed in, ignorant to any mockery going on.

"Both of you just shut your trap" Sanji growled, "another word Zoro and you're gonna have to think twice before you eat your next meal."

Zoro just chuckled and turned back to the view.

"Hey Usopp! Wanna try again!" Luffy yelled over to the marksman who had taken a seat on the Merry's head.

"No! You didn't even come close the first time you tried, so why the heck would you wanna try again!"

Luffy pouted, walking over to where Usopp sat and promptly throwing him from his perch, reclaiming his seat.

"Oi! You can't just go throwing people!"

"That's what you get" Luffy replied picking his nose.

"I didn't do anything wrong!"

"What's going on?"

"Luffy's bullying me!" Usopp shouted back to the speaker, only to be shocked upon realizing it was Dalma who had asked.

"DALMA!" The whole crew shouted in surprise.

"Yay! He's awake!" Luffy shouted, shoving Usopp to the side again.

"Oi!"

The silver-blue monkey stood in the doorway of the ship looking utterly confused.

"Woooow" he gasped as he looked past the crew at the massive tree in the distance "where are we!"

"EEEEHHHHHH?" The crew gaped in unison.

"Arthritis! He's got Arthritis!" Luffy shouted in horror.

"Stop jumping to conclusions! And it's Amnesia baka!" Nami yelled.

"Don't you recognize it?" Robin asked.

"Should I?... Wait…. Is that my tree?"

"How could you not recognize it!" The rest of the crew yelled in disbelief.

"I-I've never seen it from the outside. Must have lost consciousness before I got far enough to get a good look… It's beautiful… and the sun…"

The humanoid's eyes welled with tears, adding to the shock for everyone else.

"Oi oi, don't cry" Nami said gently, revealing the tender side she rarely showed to the others.

"S-sorry" he stuttered out, wiping his eyes.

"I'm guessing your people couldn't make it away from the homeland so you'd never get an outside look" Robin said thoughtfully. "I'm very curious to find out why, especially since you said it was safe for us to dock there."

"Wait- we're headed back there now...?"

"Yeah!" Luffy said confidently "We're gonna go kick the butts of those salamanders you told us about!"

"Huh?" the monkey gaped, "No, you can't! There's too many and they're monstrous! …. Look, if you want to go to the tree fine, you'll have a great time, but don't mess with the salamanders."

"But didn't you leave the tree to get help?" Zoro chimed in, having to sort through the multiple questions he'd started to stock up on.

"Yeah, but there's no way…" he took a moment to count the crewmates "seven people could deal with the number of these things there are."

"You're seriously underestimating us, and who else were you gonna get to come save the day?"

"Uhh… the marines perhaps?" Dalma suggested unsurely.

"Marines come to that tree all the time" Robin added, "wouldn't they already know about your situation?"

The monkey stared at her blankly for a moment before he shrunk devastated to the deck.

"You just now thought about that?" The crew shouted again.

"I know the marines usually don't interfere with most domestic issues" Robin continued "but Golden City is a major port so I'd imagine it would be a priority for them to keep is safe."

"I keep telling you, it is safe" Dalma sighed, messing with his tale dejectedly.

"Could you explain how that works?" Sanji pitched in, finding that their narrowed down questions were just making it harder to figure out the situation.

The boy sighed and let go of his spotted tail, letting it perk up behind him as he blew a puff of air out of his mouth to clear his bangs from his face. To everyone's surprise this small breath sent the mass of pale blue bangs straight up and back, completely clearing his face of any interruptions. For the first time they all got a good look at their guest who looked much less cool with his bangs gone and his rounded eyes revealing a much more innocent face than they had perceived from the beginning.

"Golden City, as famous as it seems to be, is only a small part of the Endure Gold. The tree has some distinct layers where different monkey-types dwell and there are three major breeds; the Blue, Gold, and Pale monkeys."

"But I've never heard of the Blue monkeys" Robin pitched in, a twinge of frustration in her voice due to her lack of knowledge on the subject.

Dalma expression grew dark; "I guess we aren't what people are talking about when they leave. At least they have the humanity to feel a bit of shame after treating us like friggin animals."

_"ummmm"_ the crew all thought in unison, no one pointing out that the boy called himself a monkey.

"Listen" he continued, a bit of his hair drooping back into his face, effectively distracting the band of pirates from what he had to say; "the city is called Golden City because its inhabitants are most made up of Golden Monkeys."

"Nooooo" Nami screeched in dismay, tears streaking down her face.

"What's gotten into her?" Usopp leaned over, whispering to Zoro.

"I'm guessing she was hoping the city would actually be a city made of gold" he replied nonchalantly.

"Whoa! Monkeys made of gold!" Chopper squeaked in excitement, his assumption making Nami's conclusion much more reasonable.

"Yes! They're fur is made of pure gold and they poop rubies!"

"Awesome!"

"Could you guys take this seriously!" Sanji shouted.

Dalma waited patiently for the crew to settle down, apparently entertained by their unusual reactions, his tail wagging slightly in amusement.

When they had all redirected their attention back to him he continued.

"Basically, Golden City resides at the most livable part of the tree, the place that touches the sun where the branches reach up instead of down into the sea. The Pale monkeys live at the very highest point of the tree, but it doesn't get as much sun because of the cloud cover… at least that's what I've heard. Very rarely do we Blue monkeys get information about how the rest of the tree works, but we've had an occasional visitor… usually criminals they've thrown down to us… They usually don't last long enough to give us much information on the outside world but we've managed to figure out the basics."

"So" Robin pitched in, clearly intrigued "the Blue monkeys live in the lower regions of the tree, where the ocean meets the branches."

"Yes" Dalma confirmed, his hair now fully back in his eyes "we live below where the sun reaches."

"But you talk like you can't get out of there… like it's a war zone or something. Can't you just climb up the tree?"

Dalma let out a bitter chuckle. "Don't I wish we could. No we can't climb up because there's a massive electrical fence blocking us off from the rest of the tree. It's like a canopy caging us in… it's supposed to protect the inhabitants of the upper tree from the salamanders in our parts, but it's left us with no escape. We are the sacrifice they make for their safety."

He paused, letting the crew take in what he'd just said since they clearly were stunned.

"I would almost consider that reasonable" he continued "but what gets me is that they COULD save us… they don't have to leave us to die… but they don't want our kind mixing with theirs. They don't consider the Blue monkeys the same species."

"So we just go in there, eat all of the salamanders, and bust the fence open and you can have whatever part of the tree you want. Sounds simple enough" Luffy stated as if it were obvious.

"That is in no way simple! (And since when were we going to eat the salamanders)" The crew shouted in unison again.

"NO! You can't beat the salamanders! How many times do I have to say this?"

"What's so tough about these salamanders?" Zoro asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Dalma began to quiver in fear, as if the thought itself terrified him. "They come in many sizes, the most that I've seen being around ten to thirty feet long. I've heard tales of some growing to be over three hundred feet. They have massive jaws filled with hundreds of needle-sharp teeth and they can climb almost as well as we can."

"Whoa!" Usopp jutted in "salamanders that can climb like monkeys? That's insane!"

"So what?" Luffy asked skeptically "We've taken on much bigger sea-monsters before, how hard can it be?"

"You don't understand" Dalma said desperately "there's thousands of these things, we don't even have an accurate number on how many there are! And you're missing the worst part. Not only are the amphibians huge with claws and sharp teeth, they also are coated in a terrible poison."

"A bit excessive don't you think?" Usopp said, his knees knocking in fear.

"I couldn't agree more" Dalma replied bitterly. "We call their slime "Opposite Poison" because it makes your body do the opposite of what you're brain is telling you. It starts out with your basic movements, like going left instead of right, but after a few minutes it starts to affect even your most basic actions like breathing and your heart. It's also agonizingly painful. Without treatment, the victim would die a terrible death."

Nami shuttered, wrapping her arms around herself to make it look like she was just chilly.

"Looks to me like you got close enough to get slimed," Zoro said, breaking the silence "how are you still alive?"

"We figured out a coating to put on ourselves that prevents the Opposite Poison from making direct contact with our skin."

"So you coat us up with the stuff and we take out all of the salamanders. If there's so many it might take us a while but I could always do for some more training" the swordsman replied.

"Yeah, I could do for some stress-free violence for a change" Sanji said with a thrilled grin on his face.

Dalma stared dumbly at them. "You… didn't you hear anything I said? You'll be killed!"

"No we won't" Luffy replied with a confident grin.

"Please don't go" the humanoid pleaded, ignoring the boy's reassurance. "I don't want you to get hurt. You saved my life and I can't just watch you go die for my sake. If you want to go to Golden City fine, go have a good time; just don't bother with the lower canopies. I'm sure you'll have a good time… Just don't… Promise me you won't try to go to the lower regions!"

"I ain't promising crap!" Luffy countered defiantly.

"Listen" Sanji added "you said you left to get help for your people. We're you're best option. Have a little faith in us."

"I want to" Dalma said, his eyes welling with tears "I really do… If you could fix everything I would… that would just… but I don't want you guys to die."

"Sheesh! Stop crying, we're not gonna die" Luffy spouted, giving the monkey a punch in the head.

"You mentioned earlier that you didn't want to go to Golden City" Robin spoke up, changing the subject. "If you don't want to go you could stay on the ship."

"Why are you guys doing this?" Dalma sniffled. "You don't even know me… and you're willing to risk your lives for my sake."

"Cause you need us" Luffy replied with a smile.

Dalma sniffled again, bowing his head so his hair effectively covered his face.

"Hey, why don't you come have something to eat" Sanji broke in, "I'm sure you're starving."

The boy nodded and let the chef lead him off the deck into the kitchen, his shoulders quivering like he was sobbing but his face still hidden beneath his long pale blue bangs.

"Hey I want something to eat to!" Luffy exclaimed excitedly, bouncing after the two.

"Alright, I'll fix enough for both of you" Sanji replied. They were about to re-stock at the port anyway so they could afford to splurge a little.

Night fell over the ocean, the tree lost to the darkened sky. The moon was hidden from view and the stars covered by the overcast sky. In the distance the crew could see warm lights speckling the tree's huge structure, as if the stars had come together to form a pillar of welcoming hues.

The major clusters of lights were set in the upper branches before the thick trunk rose up, only lined with a spiraling train of orbs curving up and around the tree till they reached the roots where more lights were collected, lost in a haze but still distinct.

Even the lower canopies were filled with scattered lights, proving that there were indeed people dwelling beneath. From the distance if would be easy to assume that the tree was simply a safe-haven for all of its residents, all of them living in harmony together.

They would see the truth for themselves in the coming events that would follow that peaceful night.

TBC…

Wow! Thank you all for the encouraging support! I can't wait to get along to the action parts of this story XD Sorry it's taking a while to set up, but it should get pretty intense in the following chapters and it wouldn't be a good zinfer fic if there weren't some traumatizing experiences on the way *evil grin*

On to the replies!

Darkness34- thank you so much! I have to say, your review made me so happy and got me really excited about this fic! I'm so glad you like Dalma ^_^ I wonder if you're idea of where the story is going will resemble mine. Guess we'll find out. Once again, you're review really really made my day and I hope you enjoy the rest of the fic.

Llaelien- thanks ;) glad you're enjoying it

Son of Whitebeard- woooaa, Son of Whitebeard, it's an honor. Your dad was the man. Anyhow! Thanks for taking the time to review Its definitely a fun theory XD

Pirate Queen of the 21st centry- thanks! I'm really glad you liked it and I hope you enjoyed this chapter

Chaos In Order- I want a guard monkey to oh well. LOL! I'm sure a monkey will throw a wrench in their plans _ very punny! I really hope you enjoyed the chapter and will stick around for the rest of the fic.

Kitty-bandit- HELLOO! Thanks for being so understanding about the plot -_-' I really hope this fic doesn't disappoint! I'm really glad you like Dalma ^_^ and you seem to have picked up on his character pretty well. Also, the pun with Luffy's name _ yup… it's comin… just a tiny spoiler there. Anyhoos! Once again, I can't tell you how much I appreciate your wonderful support! Even if I feel like I'm not getting hardly any feedback from my stories I still can expect you to come in and keep me going. I really really hope you enjoy the rest of the fic. I know this was mainly a transition chapter, so not too much excitement yet, but it's comin I promise Till next time! Thanks again!

-Lol, thanks for the poke XD I'm alive! And the poke was needed! You aren't spamming me, I need all the kicks to keep me going I can get. Especially in the development stage (if you recall from For Nakama I really got going once things got exciting). So thanks!

Sess18- Thanks for taking the time to review! Here's your update ^_^ Hope you enjoy

HeroR- It does have a very Sabaody and Skypea feel, and I wouldn't doubt for a second that those influenced my writing. I didn't purposefully reference those arcs, but I'm sure they resided in my story-idea ammo pack. Anyhows, good point about Zoro. I might go back and tweak that a bit, it's just hard to go back to earlier chapters when all I wanna do is move the plot along -_-' Also, I can see what you're saying about Luffy saying "good pirates." I think when I wrote it I was referencing back to the Romance Dawn arc of One Piece when Luffy distinguished between pirates… but I prefer the amoral Luffy so I might go back and change that as well. I shall also try to improve on my spelling and grammar. I don't doubt you for a second that I need to work on that. Thanks for the critique, I want to get the characters as in-character as possible so your corrections are appreciated

X3ArumixIzumix3- I shall update now! Thank you for the push! It means a lot that you're keeping up with my fic and I hope it doesn't disappoint!

And to all you readers, thanks for taking the time to join me in my little adventure! I LOVE reviews and they really make me want to write and get me excited about my fic so even a small one would be greatly appreciated!


	4. Golden City

_So far:_

_Crew picked up a Blue monkey humanoid afloat at sea named Dalma. Soon after, they come across a giant tree standing upside down in the middle of the ocean called Endure Golden where they hear three different monkey groups live: Blue, Gold, and Pale._

_Upon awaking Dalma tells them that his people are constantly terrorized by giant salamanders and Luffy offers to help by taking out the beasts._

_Now the crew sails on towards the giant tree anticipating the battle to come._

**Golden City**

The sun rose behind the Merry Go, cheering it on as it sailed closer and closer to its goal Endure Simianus. Now only an hour or so away from its destination, the pirate ship caught a good wind and was making quick progress over the choppy waves.

Sanji was happy to be off to a good start with his day, already one-up-ing Zoro with an amazing breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast, parfaits, muffins and coffee; all prepared to perfection and completely winning over Dalma's approval. Zoro showed no signs of acknowledging the chefs victory.

Dalma passed his time exploring the ship with Luffy and Usopp as his guide and avoiding Chopper at all costs. The reindeer took this severely personally and in turn spent his spare time crying and pouting with a comforting Robin by his side.

As the monkey became more and more comfortable with the ship and crew, Usopp began telling stories about himself and his great adventures as captain of the group. To everyone's surprise, Dalma seemed to always have the ability to determine when the marksman was lying; smiling in good humor and praising him on his amusing storytelling. The praise fell on deaf ears as Usopp took every knowing response as a challenge of his abilities until his conversations were made up of more lies than the truth.

At around mid-afternoon Luffy and Usopp decided to teach Dalma to fish, which didn't go as smoothly as either of them had expected.

"How can you just throw bait into the water and not worry about what comes up!" he exclaimed in fear, avoiding the fishing rod being handed to him by the marksman.

"Well actually I have this magic eye that allows me to-"

"I'm serious!"

Usopp wandered over to the railing and began to sulk.

"Luffy, don't you think about the chance that there might be something horrible and huge on the other end of your line?" Dalma redirected his question to the captain.

Smiling heartily, Luffy replied; "Yeah, but I know I'm strong enough to deal with whatever comes up."

The humanoid gawked at him. "How can you be so confident!"

"Believe me" Sanji spoke up as he joined the conversation, walking across the deck from the kitchen, "there isn't much that a hook can snag that our captain couldn't rip apart with his bare hands. You ever heard of the Straw Hat pirates?"

"Straw Hat pirates… sounds familiar…"

"Well this here is Monkey D. Luffy" the cook said, placing a hand on Luffy's head as he smiled dumbly, "the man who singlehandedly took down a one of the warlords of the sea Crocodile himself."

"Whoa! You're a monkey too?"

"Eh?"

Sweat drops formed on Luffy and Sanji's heads, as well as Usopp's as he continued to sulk with his back turned.

There was a long pause as they all stared blankly at the excited monkey.

"N-no, that's just his-"

"Sure am!" Luffy suddenly exclaimed stretching his arm down between his legs and letting it stick out behind him like a tail similar to that of the humanoid before him.

"AAAHHHH!" Dalma screamed, shooting away from them and climbing up the mast to get as far away from the captain as possible.

"You moron!" Usopp shouted smacking Luffy in the arm "if I can't get him to believe anything I lie to him how the heck did you think he would believe something you made up!"

In the distance they could hear the monkey shouting something that sounded like _"he stretched his arm, stretched his friggin arm! He's a monster!"_

"Well I figured the lie was already in his head so I just had to keep it going."

"How the heck did you think that stretching your arm to look like a tail was going to convince anyone that you're actually a monkey?"

"It worked perfectly in my head, Dalma just had to go and ruin it" Luffy pouted defensively.

"That doesn't really fix the fact that your new monkey friend is hiding in the crows nest."

_"He friggin stretched!"_

"We need to stop surprising him and just show him up front that some of you guys have devil-fruit abilities" Nami broke in, carrying a bundle of oranges she had freshly picked. "That, and I don't think Chopper can take much more being left out" she added, motioning to the little reindeer hiding in her orange trees.

"I'll stretch up there and tell him th-"

"Oh no you don't!" Nami interrupted her captain "he may favor you cause you saved his life but we can't risk giving him another heart attack."

Sighing she turned away, "I'll calm him down."

The navigator climbed the mast and joined the terrified boy in the crows nest where she remained for almost thirty minutes as the others went about their business, constantly shooting glances up to where the two were hidden.

Finally the two made their way down to the rest, Dalma seeming to have calmed down a considerable amount since his attempt at escape earlier.

"Sorry about that" he stuttered bashfully "I know I can be a scaredy cat most of the time."

"Seriously" Luffy replied, rolling his eyes and receiving a smack to the back of the head.

"Would you like to get an official introduction with our doctor now?" Robin asked, smiling as she walked up with a teary-eyed Chopper in her arms.

Dalma smiled apologetically and nodded, the tense curl of his tail betraying the remnants of fear not seen in his expression.

Once the two animals had introduced themselves and were on talking terms, Chopper moved on to reveal his other forms to their new friend. Dalma was dumbfounded at the reindeer's abilities but the others didn't give him time to take it in as each of them showed off their unusual skills, Luffy pushing the reindeer aside and stretching his face upon feeling outdone.

By the time the show-and-tell was done Dalma was shell-shocked but happily amused.

"Yes, even I have a hidden ability" Usopp bumped in after Robin revealed her multiple arms sprouting from the deck, "you see, I was born able to shoot lasers from my mouth!"

"Haha" Dalma chuckled heartily "you're funny Usopp."

"Dang it!"

"You can shoot lasers from your mouth!" Chopper squeaked in awe.

"That's right!" Usopp replied, turning from the un-fooled monkey to his other friend, "and maybe one day I'll teach you how to do it."

"Really! Wow!"

Robin giggled at the quizzical look the humanoid gave the two.

The group was distracted from their amusements as a shadow draped the ship and they looked up to see they had covered an impressive amount of sea over the course of the day and that the tree was close enough that they could make out the fence covering the lower parts of its branches and the small buildings peeking out of the foliage and climbing the massive trunk that stretched to the sky.

"Hey" Zoro spoke up "there's a dock that looks like it connects to the upper tree but I don't see an entrance to the lower sections."

"That's because there isn't one" Dalma explained "and if you guys won't listen to my advice not to get involved, at least be reasonable enough to visit Golden City first before you bother going beneath the fence."

"We can vacation after we're done taking care of those salamanders" Sanji responded crossing his arms.

"No" Dalma argued, shaking his head "it's not that. Don't you guys remember me mentioning that the salamanders all have lethal poison coating their bodies?"

"Yeah" Nami answered "but you also said that we could get a protective coating to keep that from effecting us. Can't we just get that down below?"

"Well yeah, but you'd have to get to our colonies first. It's not like it's lying around for grabs. So the problem is that to get to the antidote for the poison you'd have to fight the salamanders first. You see the predicament yes?"

"So" Robin pitched in "we need to go to Golden City to get this protective coating before we can venture to the lower areas of the Endure Simianus?"

"Yes."

Despite some of the disappointed faces of the more violent-happy crewmates Robin smiled contently. "Well I can't deny that I was hoping to visit the city. After hearing your story about the state of affairs there I have a terrible curiosity of the history of your homeland; something I'd imagine wouldn't be too hard to find in such an esteemed city."

"Well you'll get more reliable information than from us. Most of our history has been passed down orally, so aside from the ruins of our former culture we don't have any official documentation to be researched."

"UGGG! Could this conversation be any more boring?" Luffy broke in, rolling his eyes in anguish.

Robin chuckled at her captain.

"So we're going to Golden City first, finding this anti-poison coating, then heading down to take care of this salamander problem?" Zoro concluded, looking to each of his crewmates to make sure the plan was clear.

"YOSH! TO GOLDEN CITY!" Luffy exclaimed, pointing to the ever-nearing tree that was now only about a mile away.

Dalma sighed. "Well at least you guys have a little bit of common sense."

"Why would Golden City have this medicine?" Chopper asked. "You said it was safe there? Isn't that what the fence is for?"

"Well yeah… and I'm not sure if they have it" the boy responded, rubbing his head. "Like I said, I've never actually been there myself, but I figured there was a likely chance they had it just in case."

"It's all we have to go on for now" Zoro stated as he walked to the railing of the Merry Go "and Dalma, if you don't want to be seen by these Golden Monkeys you might want to go ahead and go down below cause we're going to be reaching the docks any minute now."

"Right" the monkey nodded and walked over to Luffy.

"Please be carefully Luffy. I don't know what I'd do if you got hurt on my account. Promise me you won't go looking for trouble."

"I never look for trouble" the captain replied with a smile "but if it comes my way I'll kick its butt."

"Believe me, that's the best you're gonna get from him" Usopp whispered in Dalma's ear.

With an exasperated sigh and a smile, the monkey nodded and made his way to the ship's hull.

"See ya when we get back" Luffy called after him with a grin.

"You'd better or I'll storm in there and drag you out myself" Dalma answered back before shutting the door behind him.

The crew lined the front of the Merry as they neared the port stretching out from the tree. They could now see the electric fence canopying the lower part of the free, stretching unevenly over patches of branches that grew out farther than the rest, dropping off into open space when there was a barren section.

Numerous ships (most considerably larger than their own) were already docked at the long pier that spread out several hundred yards from the buildings sitting on stilts that disappeared into the sea below. From behind those buildings they could see several tracks that curved up into the sky and into the foliage hundreds of feet above.

"Roller coasters!" Usopp, Chopper and Luffy all shouted in unison upon spotting the towering structures.

"This is so exciting" Nami cheered with excitement, clapping her hands together happily.

"The place looks much more advanced than I would have assumed" Robin said curiously.

"Let's just not forget the real reason we're here" Sanji reminded.

"Take your own advice curly-brow" Zoro jutted in "we all know you're gonna go all house-wife on us the second you spot the veggies and herbs."

"Why you…"

"Ahoy there!" Nami shouted to a monkey standing on the dock motioning them to an open space for them to pull up the Merry Go.

"Don't they care that we're pirates?" Chopper asked.

"Looks like they've got several already here" Robin pointed out. "I hear Water 7 is the same with most of their customers being pirates. I guess as long as you can keep them under control you can let anyone in."

"Cool" the reindeer cheered with a smile "it's nice to be welcome every once and a while."

"It sure is" the historian concurred.

The crew docked the ship and filled out their visitor passes, the golden monkey escorting them to the large welcome centers at the end of the dock. Their guide didn't look much different than Dalma, except rather than his skin being blue it was tan, and his fur a bright yellow with giraffe spots rather than Dalmatian spots on silver.

They were led into a huge building, walking past numerous merchants selling baskets, fruit, jewelry and spices (of which Sanji blatantly ignored). Several yards in they came to five rows of railed tracks that did indeed look like those of a roller coaster. They were instructed to store their belongings in the back of one of the carts and to take their places inside the front passenger section where safety bars were lowered over their laps. Soon after, the coaster car began its ascent to the higher regions of the tree. At first the incline was slight, but a few seconds into the ride the cart tilted to almost a 90 degree angle as it chugged along.

Luffy, Usopp and Chopper all raised their arms in enthusiasm as if they were riding a park ride; soon joined by Zoro, Sanji and Robin who ignored the scolding of their navigator for their childishness.

A few minutes later they finally crested the peak of the track, returning to a horizontal angle and coasting into another welcome center and more merchants. Though they ignored most of the pestering salesmen and women, the crew did take note that the change in elevation was more extreme than they had anticipated, realizing that the monkeys' fur was for more than decoration, but for warmth as well. So each of them purchased a new jacket from the numerous stores that had anticipated the unexpected necessity of their visitors.

The famous city did not disappoint; each of the pirates left jaw agape and eyes bulging at the sights and sounds that rose around them. Buildings did not reside on any one plane, but jutted out from twisted branches scattered up the trunk of the tree, some covered with moss and vines while some were kept clean and professional.

Golden monkeys were everywhere, each with a different pattern on their fur. Every once and a while the crew would see a white monkey or one with a much lighter hue than the rest, but not once did they see a blue monkey like their friend they had left on the Merry Go.

The mood of the citizens was lighthearted and welcoming, though when asked about the protective coating from the salamanders most of them had no idea what they were talking about.

It was at around the twentieth monkey that came up dry that Nami began to lose it.

"How can no-one know about this stuff! Surely you can at least point me in the direction of someone you think has it!"

"Look lady" the monkey with a pattern that resembled that of a butterfly raised his hands defensively, "we just don't really need the stuff. The salamanders don't get up here… ever."

"Ok" Robin butted in, pulling back their enraged navigator "can you at least tell us where we can get information about the lower regions of this tree?"

"I can help you there" he replied, stepping a bit away from the steaming ginger. "There's a whole museum dedicated to it a few levels down from here. I think you can even take a tour if you're really curious."

"TOUR?"

"Uh, yeah… it's pretty crazy down there so many visitors want to get a look at it."

"Are you saying you can go in and come out? I thought it was fenced off" Robin asked confused.

"Oh it is" he replied, hefting his pack of fruit "it's not like you're gonna be walking around down there. No, it's just for viewing. They've got these cool elevators that go-"

"People just go watch what's happening down there!" Luffy growled, his tone dangerous.

"Uh… l-look, if you have questions just go there and ask them. I'm no expert" the monkey replied, backing away further.

Zoro placed a hand on his captain's shoulder; "getting mad at this monkey won't change anything Luffy; keep your head."

The boy nodded, his glare not leaving his face as he turned and stomped away.

"Sorry about that" Usopp said to the man, "would you be kind enough to tell us how to get to this museum?"

Following the butterfly-monkey's directions, the crew took a narrow twist of rickety old stairs down to a massive branch riddled with shacks and bridges. The closer they got to sea-level the more often they spotted certain clumps of branches that held instruments of different shapes and sizes, some of which they couldn't decide if one was to blow into them or beat them like a drum.

Each layer down the tree presented a new challenge to the crew since the paths down weren't easy to spot. On occasion they were instructed to slide down an assortment of vines dangling fearfully high over the awaiting branch below into a sea of warm lights that were necessary with the increase in foliage cover.

Sunlight was becoming more and more of a rarity the farther they got from the surface, and the roar of insects and frogs had become harder to ignore the closer they got to water.

Despite the somberness of the situation at hand, the crew took in every sight and sound with enthusiasm. Luffy was a force to be reckoned with every time he saw a monkey swinging through the branches, using his arms as his own vines and calling out monkey sounds as he chased the startled humanoids through the greenery.

Without Robin to keep the wanderers under control with her devil-fruit abilities the crew would never have made it to their destination in-tact.

As they searched for the next route down on their second-to-last level, the insect and animal noises were suddenly silenced. An eerie thought that they had all gone deaf was hindered only by the sound of leaves rustling against each other in the breeze and the light mumble of monkeys in conversation at a distance. The muteness of their surroundings brought each of the pirates on full alert, each of them tensing and glancing around warily.

A soothing hum of a woodwind instrument broke the silence, its calming melody echoing through the branches of the massive Endure Simianus, soon joined by a chorus of other instruments, the soft wine of a violin-like device playing harmony to the main tune. Seconds later the sounds of the many orchestras could be heard throughout the entire tree, their music sounding louder than the former calls of the insects and birds.

The crew looked at one another, each of them smiling at the sweet sound in their ears. Robin alone kept a stern look on her face, placing a hand on her chin in meditation.

It wasn't until they reached the final layer of branches before the fence that the orchestras stopped making melody, the frogs and bugs taking their place again with a steady roar of mating calls and chirps.

The museum wasn't hard to find, statues of various noble-looking monkeys lining a well-lit walkway being the first indicators that they had reached their destination. What really caught the crew's attention however were the sculptures of massive long-legged salamanders set in dynamic poses, some crouching to strike and some in mid-pounce.

"I can start to understand the source of Dalma's dread now" Nami said as she observed the intricate detail put into the huge claws and gaping wide mouth of one particularly gruesome statue.

"This is gonna be fun" Zoro said, a slightly-insane gleam in his eye.

"It's nice to see what we're up against" Sanji stated, blowing smoke out of his mouth.

A crowd had begun to form at the entrance to the judicial-looking building, other curious visitors from the look of it, so the crew quietly slipped into the back of the group. At the top of the stairs leading up to the front porch stood a stocky looking monkey with bold sideburns and a sharply shaven coat of fur coming up over his shoulders. He wore suspenders but no shirt and the belt-line of his pants rose up to his chest.

"300 years!" he continued "300 years ago our ancestors settled here from across the sea, joined by the pale and blue species that still dwell on our beloved tree! Legend has it that the gods dropped one of their wonderful trees down from the heavens as a gift to the monkey people! For years the Blue, Gold, and Pale monkeys lived in harmony, sharing the different levels of what was formerly named Endure Simianus. There was a betrayal however! A break in the unspoken treaty amongst their species when the Blue apes raised an army of creatures up to gain power over the other two great races."

The Straw Hats gave each-other confused glances but kept quiet, anxious to hear the rest of the tale.

"That's right! The Blue monkeys began breeding a vicious species of salamanders, much like the sculptures you see before you now, in order to gain control over the entire tree and become sole rulers over this fine land. But our great ancestor Leopold, a wise man and ruler over the Golden monkeys foresaw this invasion and began building the great barrier between the upper and lower parts of the tree. The Blue monkeys, the majority of whom chose to live in the lower areas of the tree, mocked Leopold's work, not considering that the fence would be more than just twisted metal, and carried out their attack at around the same time of its completion. The monstrous salamanders were set loose on the Golden people, killing hundreds, including the family of Leopold himself.

Yet not all was lost! You see Leopold had designed a much more advanced protection than anyone had believed possible at this time! He had created an electric charge that would forever pulse through the wires of his fence at the flip of a switch, and that's exactly what he did. Shutting off the lower portion of the tree, he sparked the power of his protective wall, preventing anything from crossing over to threaten his people ever again!"

Again, the crew glanced at each other.

"What you are about to see ladies and gentlemen" the thick ape continued "is the ferocious and terrifying lifestyle of the Blue species that still dwells beneath our boarders! They are a savage lot, now having to fight the very creatures they created on a daily basis, and if you're lucky, you might even be able to witness a battle if you take the tour."

The crowed oo'ed and aah'd and the prospect.

"That's right ladies and gentlemen! For only 600 berri a piece you can observe these fascinating creatures in their natural habitat from the safety of our specially crafted tour elevators!"

"That's robbery!" Nami screeched before being muffled by an embarrassed Usopp.

The ape coughed and continued by inviting the crowd to enjoy the museum and sign up for the tour later.

"Ok guys, huddle up" Luffy ordered, bringing his entire crew's heads slamming together with his rubber arms.

"Oi!" Zoro growled, joining the others in rubbing the newly formed knots on their skulls.

"So I really really want to take the tour" Luffy exclaimed, glancing back at the man handing out tickets. "I gotta take a look at these monster salamanders that those evil Blue monkeys created, I can't wait any longer."

"Don't just believe they're evil cause he said that!" Sanji shouted, smacking Luffy in the head. "Do you think Dalma's evil?"

"No."

"Well he's a Blue monkey too."

"What? How could he throw his lot in with them?"

"They're born with their colors moron!"

"It would be wise to observe these creatures' hunting style so we know what we're up against" Robin interjected "but I'm seriously wondering about the validity of that story that monkey just told. I need to get to the historical archives before I can come to any conclusions."

"You're being boring again Robin" Luffy complained.

"Don't forget why we're here!" Nami exclaimed, "we need to get that anti-poison coating in order to fight off those salamanders. Whether they created those creatures or not they still don't deserve to be slaughtered by them."

"Right" Luffy agreed "let's go ask the man now (and get tickets for the tour)."

"Luffy we can't afford to take the tour" Nami countered as they made their way over to the announcer.

"I don't have to go" Robin spoke up "I'd rather do some more research via documentation over observing the present state of things anyway."

"Not helping" the navigator growled.

"Excuse me" Sanji spoke up, addressing the museum guide. "We're wondering about a certain anti-poison the Blue monkeys coat themselves with in order to fight the salamanders-"

"Ah yes" the man replied knowingly "a fascinating substance! You see the salamanders have a terrible poison coating their bodies that we call "Opposite Poison" that-"

"Yeah yeah, we know" Zoro interrupted, seeing the direction the monkey was going "but where could we find this defensive coating?"

"You want to purchase the coating itself?... well that's a new one."

"Do you happen to have any on hand?" Nami asked anxiously.

"I'm sorry miss but we don't" the man replied apologetically "but I believe that the Pale monkeys have been collecting and testing he material the Blue monkeys use to make it. A brilliant species those Blue monkeys, and the Pale monkeys are admirable as well, for they are the scientists of us upper-dwelling creatures."

"Would the Pale monkeys happen to have the records containing the history of Endure Si- Endure Golden?" Robin questioned hopefully.

"I believe your best bet would be the tree library located halfway up the trunk of the tree. If you guys were thinking about visiting the Pale monkeys up there the library would be conveniently on the way there."

"Indeed" the historian said, the excitement over the prospect shining vividly in her eyes observed only by her crewmates.

"So you're telling me that the coating we're looking for is probably at the very top of the tree?" Nami exclaimed in frustration. "After we came all the way down here to get it?"

"Hey, it doesn't have to be a wasted trip" the man encouraged heartily "there's still a tour to be taken."

"Huddle!" Luffy exclaimed, once again slamming his crewmates' heads together with his arms.

"Captain" Sanji growled "I think we need to address your method of getting our attention."

"Ok, so the magic potion is up at the top of the tree, Robin wants to go to the library (for some reason), and I want to take the tour, so I say we split up to save time" Luffy explained, ignoring the cook's proposition.

"Good idea" Usopp agreed "I'll go to the top of the tree and look for the coating and you guys can take the tour into the pit of death."

"A-and I'll go with you!" Chopper and Nami exclaimed in unison, neither of them enjoying the idea of crossing the protective barrier of the fence into a war-zone.

"Alrighty" Luffy concluded "so Usopp, Chopper, and Nami will go find the potion, Robin will join them till she gets to boring world, and Zoro, Sanji and I will take the tour."

There was a long pause before Nami broke the silence.

"No no! That won't work. We can't have all of the bull-headed, violent-happy morons in one group without someone to keep them under control; and we can't have all of the weaker crew members together without a body-guard."

"Hey!" Usopp and Chopper countered defensively, though both lacked heart in their argument.

"How about Zoro and Nami switch groups?" Robin suggested. "Usopp and Chopper would be more useful in getting the right coating since both have experience in chemistry, and Zoro would make a fine body-guard."

"Yaaay!" Sanji exclaimed in a swivel of joy "Nami-san's in my group!"

Nami looked devastated upon being given responsibility over the love-struck cook and an over-zealous captain but she couldn't come up with a reasonable excuse to not be the one to stay with them so she sighed and accepted her fate.

Zoro shrugged nonchalantly and took his place with a relieved Usopp and Chopper. He didn't say it, but he felt uneasy leaving his captain's side after so close of a call those few weeks before, but he didn't want Luffy to think that he didn't trust in his abilities. He needed to show the boy that he didn't think that his captain needed him as a babysitter all of the time.

"Yosh!" Luffy exclaimed "so it's settled! Zoro, Usopp, Chopper and Robin will head up to the top of the tree and Sanji, Nami and I will take the tour. We'll meet back at the Merry in ten hours. You guys think that's enough time to find the coating?"

"I hope so" Chopper squeaked, "I'm scared enough to fight these monsters without the poison."

"We can take em'" Luffy encouraged the doctor with a grin.

"Well the tour's about to begin so you guys had better go ahead and get your tickets" Zoro reminded.

"Right!" Luffy exclaimed, turning towards the ticket booth several feet away; "and you guy's should take off as well. The sooner we find that potion the better."

"Aye-aye captain" Usopp exclaimed with a salute, turning and heading back of the tree with the others.

"You'd better make sure he doesn't do anything stupid" Zoro mumbled threateningly into Sanji's ear.

"You can't be serious" Sanji chuckled back as he walked after his ecstatic captain.

With that the crew said their goodbyes and parted ways.

-Luffy, Sanji and Nami-

The pirate trio was not left waiting for very long before another Golden monkey made his way into the waiting room. He was a considerable amount thinner than his fellow host but shared the sideburns and suspenders.

"If those taking the tour would please follow me" he announced in a voice that matched his manicured demeanor.

The small crowd was led into another room which contained three glass elevators, each decorated elaborately with Corinthian reliefs that shined under the bright lights filling the otherwise barren room.

"You can't seriously expect us to get into glass elevators after seeing the illustrations and sculptures of those monstrous salamanders outside" someone exclaimed skeptically.

"I can understand your concern" the thin monkey replied with a smile. "However, you need not worry for your safety. We have taken every threat into account in the designing of these capsules and I can assure you that they are 100% salamander proof. The glass used for these windows is ten inches thick" he explained, knocking his knuckles on the glass to emphasize his point. "Never has a salamander, or anything else for that matter, even come close to cracking these elevator's walls."

Relieved chatter came in whispers throughout the crowd until it was brought to a halt by an upraised hand from their guide.

"If each of you would take your pick of our elevators we will begin the tour" he instructed, stepping aside and letting each of the groups make their way into the five elevators.

Once everyone had made their way in, the doors were shut and latched, locking its passengers inside. The guide (who had taken his place in the last capsule) picked up a device that resembled an old telephone and spoke into it, his words ringing out loud and clear throughout each of the elevators.

The monkey gave a short description of what they were to expect and what to keep an eye out for. There were some safety guidelines, though none of them seemed like they would actually come in handy during an emergency situation, and after the guide mentioned "in case someone is claustrophobic" most of the crowd let their minds wonder.

It wasn't until the words "without further ado" came out of the man's mouth that the group returned their attention to the tour.

The floor beneath the elevators opened up revealing a vast span of empty space dropping down hundreds of feet into darkness.

Luffy giggled with excitement as the elevators were lowered through the small slots in the floor and left dangling in the expanse of nothingness below. His enthusiasm was countered by the tearful dread of his navigator who gripped Sanji's arm in fear as they got further and further from the safety above the fence. Despite his anxiousness, the blonde still couldn't resist a dorky grin and his eye shaped up into a thrilled half-moon.

The three elevators had several spotlights that shone out from all sides, lighting up the shady lower-foliage they passed the farther down they traveled.

Pointing out different plants and species of bird and frog, their guide kept up a steady stream of explanations and storytelling throughout their descent. On occasion they spotted a cluster of huts nestled in the confines of some thick branches; warm lights shone through the windows and an occasional figure would pass across their line of sight in the distance.

"The Blue monkey species is quite similar to our own" the guide spoke as he pointed out a few figures making their way into a larger building; "they live in houses as you can see and their social interactions are pretty much the same as ours, with families and friends, rivalries and loyalties."

"So you don't think they're the same species as you guys?" Sanji asked.

"Oh no!" the ape responded "the Golden Monkeys are a much more evolved race of monkey. While the Blue apes here keep to this dark savage world, living in violence and war, we Goldens are a people of the sun, a glorious species living in peace and love above."

"Aren't you guys the reason they're stuck down here in the first place?" Sanji said, anger coating his words.

"My boy-" the man started but was interrupted by a gasp of a woman in the crowd, followed by similar outbursts from the rest of the passengers.

"I-isn't that a salamander!" a man exclaimed pointing below them.

"Ah so it is" the guide replied. "If everyone would like to look to your lower left you will be able to see one of the giant salamanders spoken of before the tour… oh, and it looks like you'll also be able to get a good look at the Blue apes you've heard so much about."

Everyone's eyes were locked on the scene the monkey was describing, awestruck by the enormity of the salamander before them. Even larger than the statues at the museum, the creature stretched a good thirty feet long, it's dark skin covered with an elaborate pattern of colors and shapes, also very dark but distinguishable in the spotlights of the elevators. Unlike its smaller relatives, the creature's arms were long and lanky, shooting through the trees at an impressive speed as it snagged vines and branches to propel itself forward towards a much smaller target.

Its prey looked to be only three feet tall and had dark red fur on blue skin. The monkey wore a white dress and had her hair in a pony-tail, darting in and out of the monster's range with impressive agility despite how young she appeared to be. Still, she seemed to be losing ground on the rampaging creature, its mouth agape in an eerily wide smile revealing a pale interior.

"That poor thing" a woman exclaimed, pity in her voice.

Sanji was livid, his eyes sharpening fiercely and he felt Nami tense next to him.

"Yes" the guide commentated "this is just a glimpse of the horrors of the low-land and the terrible result of –"

An enormous crash interrupted the monkey and chunks of glass burst in every direction followed by a cool draft of air that wafted across the skin of the passengers of the first elevator.

"What the-" a man began, wiping chunks of glass off of himself before opening his eyes to see a gaping hole in what was once the very secure side of their elevator.

Nami rubbed her head from where a shard of glass had grazed it. "What on earth?"

"Dunno" Sanji replied, standing up from where he had placed his body in front of the navigators, "Did you see anything Lu-"

Both crewmates came to the realization that their captain was missing at the same time, disbelieving eyes turning towards the opening and seeing a glimpse of their captain's jacket before it vanished into the abyss.

TBC…

Alrighty, there's a nice long chapter to keep you guys occupied for a while. Hope you liked it. I felt a little rushed cause I wanted to go ahead and get to the action… not good writing I know -_-' must.. be.. patient…

Anyhows, things r gonna get crazy now so get ready.

There's a bit of my fan art/illustrations on my deviantart account. I'm Zinfer

On to review replies!

X3ArumixIzumix3- thanks for sticking around and supporting me man! I really appreciate it ^_^ I hate to burst your bubble but no, Luffy is not a descendant of the monkeys XD I know I like to completely screw with the canon but not that much haha. Lol, you know you need to do better at proofreading your work when someone who speaks another language is giving you spelling corrections -_-' I'll try to be better. I'm really glad you found the humor in the last chapter funny ^_^ Making jest is usually hit or miss for me and I haven't really got it down to a science yet so thanks. Hope you enjoy the rest of the fic!

Darkness34- Hello again good friend! And mwajajaaja! You thought the last chapter was a cliffhanger XD you're really gonna have a rough time the rest of the fic then :) I know my return took a bit longer this time but I hope the longer chapter made up for the delay. And the salamanders have arrived CX yaay (I'm excited to write these upcoming parts. I'm kinda a sucker for action). Thanks for reviewing! I always really really appreciate it!

Chaos Is Order- yay! You're sticking around ^_^ thanks man! Your reviews are always a ton of fun and get me pumped to write more. I hope you are pleased with the rest of the fic as I continue on. Enjoy

Too lazy to log in- LOL! Thanks for reviewing XD

HeroR- thanks again for always having good advice about things I need to work on in the story I need all the help I can get and want to become a better writer through these stories so your tips are always welcome. I did note the lack of Chopper these past few chapters, and I didn't really make up for it in this chapter either -_-' but he'll have his time to shine eventually. Sometimes my punctuation gets messed up because when I'm writing on my computer I'll put two diff punctuation marks beside one-another to emphasize things. For example "What! ! ? ?" just becomes either "What?" or "What!" when I put it on ff… That might be the culprit for some of my many mistakes. Anyhow! Thanks for taking the time to give a critique of my chapters and I hope you enjoy the rest of the fic

Alrighty! That's all of you guys. Not many reviews last chapter. I need to get my butt in gear or no-one will wanna read my stuff T_T then I'll be all distraught

Thanks for reading! See-ya in a few!


	5. Pan

Illustrations for BGP can be found on my deviantart gallery. I'm Zinfer

_So far:_

_Crew picked up a Dalmatian-monkey humanoid named Dalma. Soon after, they sailed into view of a giant tree, standing upside-down in the middle of the ocean. They later heard from Dalma that he had just escaped from the lower parts of the tree where his people were being terrorized by giant salamanders. Luffy volunteers the crew to take out the monsters but before they can begin they had to go to the upper tree (Golden City) to get a coating to protect them from the salamanders' poison._

_The crew split up when they found the museum tour below; Usopp, Chopper, Zoro and Robin traveling up to the top of the tree to get the potion, while Luffy, Sanji, and Nami traveled down in the tour to get a better look at the lower tree and the salamanders they would be facing._

_Chapter ended with Luffy breaking out of the elevator to rescue a blue monkey child from an attacking Salamander._

** PAN**

"LUFFY!" Sanji shouted, starting to crawl out of the window after his captain. He had barely made it out halfway when without warning the elevator blasted backwards, knocking the wind out of him and impaling his stomach on the window's broken glass.

All he could let out was a stunned grunt as the capsule shot away from the speck that was all that could be seen of his captain as he faded into the darkness, leaping for the small child.

Everyone in the elevator was screaming as the G-forces sent them to the floor of the elevator, Nami struggling to get her crew mate off of the broken glass, anticipating the narrow opening in the fence they were about to slide through.

Pushing herself back to her feet she snagged the back of the cook's collar, yanking backward with all she had in her. Sanji shouted in pain as the shards were dislodged and the two stumbled back inside of the capsule as the metal opening zipped by.

"Crap crap crap crap" Sanji gasped as Nami put pressure on his bleeding stomach and the rest of the crowd regained their bearings. An alarm was going off, sounding distant in comparison to the screaming panic in the two crew-mates' heads.

"Sanji, hold still" Nami called out as the cook struggled to get back to his feet.

"Can't… urrg… dang it all. Should never have let him take the…" Sanji panted out, frustration fuming out of him in waves.

People were being escorted out of the elevator around them, monkeys in yellow and orange uniforms waving them out and taking them to the side for questioning. Two of them came rushing to the pirates' sides, gently pulling Nami away from Sanji as they checked him over.

"Please" Nami spoke up frantically "our friend is still down there! He busted out to rescue somebody and the elevator shot out of there before we could retrieve him. We have to go back down and get him or he could die!"

"Y-your friend broke the glass?" another humanoid in yellow gasped.

"Yes! He's our captain" Nami replied impatiently. As proud as she felt upon seeing the dumbstruck faces of the monkeys, they didn't have time for explanations.

"Captain? I can't beli-"

"We have to get him out of there! He won't last down there against those things" she interrupted, not bothering to stop Sanji as he finally managed to get to his feet. Waving away the medics, he stumbled over to the guide who was speaking with three officials; apparently the other elevators had shot back to the surface at the same time theirs had.

Nami glanced over worriedly at the blond but returned her attention to the man she was speaking with, though she was quickly coming to see that he wasn't going to be of much help.

"You" Sanji said, taking the thin guide by the shoulder, "please send the broken elevator back down there so we can get our captain."

"What?"

"Sir" the officer broke in sternly "sending that capsule back down to the lower levels would be a major risk to our national security."

"National security my butt" Sanji yelled back, bundling his shirt into his wound a bit more "what exactly do you think is gonna happen! Are you worried a giant salamander could crawl in and sneak into your blessed sanctuary up here? Any idiot could tell you that's bull! Now get us down there!"

"Sir, we cannot send that contraption down to the low-levels when it is open to access. The blue apes are an entirely different threat and have been trying to cross our boarders for years. This could be just the opening they need to break-"

"Are you friggin kidding me right now!" Sanji interrupted in disbelief. "You're gonna leave my friend down there to die on the chance that the people down there are going to invade via one small elevator capsule!"

"Your friend is responsible for his own actions and we will not break national security for every group of tourists who think that their rules have authority over our own."

"Your security sucks! I gave my word I'd keep our stupid captain out of trouble and I'll be seriously pissed if I have to face that marimo head without him."

"I'm sorry sir, but we will not be sending that elevator down until it is repaired."

"Why you-"

"Sanji!" Nami called out, having turned away from the apparently useless medic she had been arguing with. "We don't have time to argue with these monkeys, Time to move on to plan B."

The cook grinned happily back. Plan A was no-one's favorite since it involved no violence and mostly failed arguing with whomever the conflict involved.

"Ok" he said, turning back to the monkey officer "I'm no longer asking you to send the elevator down, I'm telling you."

With that he raised his leg up until his heel was directly under the ape's chin.

"You can't be serious?" The man stuttered nervously.

"Oh I am."

Nami had brought out her clima-tact and was walking to join them where they stood.

"Sanji, you need to get in the elevator and get Luffy. I'll deal with these guys up here and send you down and bring you up. Someone's gotta stay and you're seriously wounded and I'm not risking getting stuck down there… I mean I don't want to risk you getting more injured."

The cook nodded, hating to leave the crowd control to his beloved woman, but understanding the urgency of the situation he didn't argue.

"I'm sorry" another golden monkey spoke up from the entrance of the room "but if you take any further action that will threaten our security we will be forced to apprehend you."

"Your security is fine" Nami answered sternly as she wandered towards what she hoped was the control room, keeping her body turned towards her potential opponents. "We just need to save our captain, so if you just leave us alone no-one will get hurt."

The golden ape glared at her then looked to an officer beside him, speaking authoritatively.

"Call our men in, we have some pirates to deal with."

-Luffy-

The moment Luffy realized that the small girl was not going to escape the salamander's pursuits he didn't think, but acted. Thick elevator walls not being a concern, he shot forward head-first into the cool outside air, shards of glass nicking his face before being eternally lost to the twisted foliage below.

Moist, cool air filled his nostrils and for the first time he acknowledged how stuffy it had been in the capsule he had just busted out of. There was a brief moment in which he was airborne, enjoying the chill of a rush of air before he slammed into a firm, moss-slick branch several yards behind the monkey and the salamander.

Again the pirate moved instinctively, no conscious thought telling him he had seconds before the small girl's time would run out. He launched himself forward, ignoring the fading yell of his crewmates above him and flying ahead of the two creatures oblivious to his existence. Having just enough leeway to bounce off of a thick twist of branches, Luffy was motion, slamming into the small red-furred girl who was a brief moment from being swallowed whole.

So close of a call this was, that the sound of the creature's massive jaws snapping shut could be heard as they closed, inches from the two escaping figures.

Luffy wrapped his arms protectively around the small child he had rescued, letting his rubber arms take the blunt of the fall as they crashed into the scattered branches several yards below.

Feeling the nothingness of open-air, the boy freed one of his arms and snagged a vine that hung loosely off of one of the branches they had broken through before they fell another hundred feet.

A gurgled hiss echoed from above, then the rush of leaves as the momentarily confused salamander returned to its hunt.

"It'll be here in a few seconds" the small monkey spoke up, her voice high, "we have to keep moving."

The captain looked down at the child he had just rescued, his gaze meeting a pair of large, deep-brown eyes that looked focused and mature though the trails of dried tears down her cheeks betrayed the composure of the small monkey. She couldn't have been more than ten years old and her long messy bangs reminded him of Dalma's, though she did a better job at keeping them out of her eyes than the humanoid they had left on the Merry Go.

"Where do I go?" he asked as he pulled himself to the top of the branch, sensing the nearness of the coming monster.

"Anywhere you can. If you can find a small crevasse to slip into I'd do that; they can't follow you there."

"Yosh" Luffy responded as he took another mighty leap just as the huge amphibian came bounding across the limb upon which they had been standing.

Another gurgled hiss yapped out of the monster's throat before if followed after, its strong long arms propelling it after its prey like a slingshot.

Luffy was pleased that the small red monkey had enough sense to latch on to him for dear life, her hands twisted in his shirt with a vice grip that wouldn't easily be loosened. Knowing she wasn't going anywhere, the pirate freed up his left arm and sent it stretching towards some vines that coiled around a particularly fat branch several yards away.

His instinctual action, once again, saved the two of them by mere inches from the jaws of the predator, leaving it flying through open space and angry that it had missed a seemingly easy catch once more.

The salamander landed scrambling on a branch a few feet farther down than where the dark-haired boy and the monkey now climbed. Its eyes gleamed in anxious anticipation as it scurried up the steep limb, keeping its dark body hidden from view.

"Y-you can stretch!" The girl gasped in awe when they latched on to the side of a vertical hanging branch, Luffy wrapping his rubber arms around it to make sure they didn't slide down.

"And you're not wearing the paste! Are you crazy?"she added in alarm, sniffing at his chest where she clung.

"Yeah, you wouldn't happen to have any extra on you by any chance?" he asked bashfully.

"Aside from what I'm wearing, no" she replied with concern. "Listen, you're gonna have to be extra careful or you're going to be in deep crap."

"Kind of like you were a moment ago?"

"Touché"

"Ok, so where should I be heading to get you home?"

She pointed back where they had come from and Luffy nodded, glancing around for where the monster had disappeared to.

"Um.." the girl added before he jumped off "mister…?"

"Luffy."

She smiled up at him. "Thank you Luffy-san."

He grinned back but the warm moment was suddenly interrupted by a flash of black and Luffy's instant reaction. He skidded to the right just in time for the massive salamander to come slamming down from its hiding spot which had been alarmingly nearby.

There was no time lost between the creature's failed strike and it's second. Its body twisted violently, coiling then exploding sideways, once again snapping its fangs where the two had been just an instant earlier.

Luffy was off again, his experience of climbing trees coming back to him in an instant. In his youth with Ace and Sabo he climbed tree's and fought beasts more then he walked, and that developed skill had not been lost to him.

If not for this experience, the two fleeing figures in the darkness of the heavy undergrowth would have been just another snack for the monsters to enjoy, for their pursuer was perfectly adapted to the tropical landscape and flowed through the branches and vines as a fish in water.

"Holy crap!" Luffy shouted as he narrowly dodged the swipe of a lanky arm, which had come right after the snap of jaws attached to an extended neck.

"Down that way!" the red monkey called out from his back, pointing toward a cluster of warm lights down a coil of branches almost half a mile away.

"Yosh!" Luffy exclaimed as he slammed into another vertical branch stretching a long distance straight down. He let his hands slide with the slippery moss and vines leeching to the bark, the two of them zipping southward, gravity speeding them on.

The salamander gurgle-hissed in rage but they could hear it continue its pursuit as it slipped gracefully through their defense of underbrush.

As they neared the safe-hold of huts, the girl began to call out with echoing howls of alarm which she barked from the back of her throat. Soon after there came response howls, and Luffy heard someone call out "salamander" in the distance.

"That way that way!" she hollered, pointing in another direction and for a moment he wondered why they weren't going to just charge straight for the lights. His curiosity was answered when he realized that there were much more than a few glowing lights below them, but a massive cluster of homes radiating with light; but the illumination was broken up by an all-encompassing wall of thick, thorny foliage; some of the thorns as long as four feet in length.

"How'm I gonna get through that!" He exclaimed in panic.

"There're a few openings over there" she replied quickly, still pointing in the same direction.

Suddenly the branch they had just landed on gave way under the weight of the huge amphibian that had made good time with the moment of hesitation on the pirate's part. Running was no longer the wisest decision with their pursuer upon them and Luffy would not be foolish enough to turn his back on it now.

An idea popped into his mind in that instant and he stretched his arm over to a thin branch to his left but only twisted his body to dodge the monster's attack. Instead of following his arm where it had stretched, he ripped the branch from where is had been growing and thrust it forward into the eye of the huge creature as it struck at them once more.

It screamed a chilling scream and arched its head back with a call of rage and pain. The howl was so loud that Luffy was forced to bring his hands to his ears to block it out, squeezing his eyes shut tightly.

The call silenced a few seconds later as the beast writhed in pain, then as he began to flee again Luffy heard the red monkey still on his back let out another howl of her own, this one different, more panicked and alien than her former call.

Then the salamander was in pursuit again, less graceful in its movements as it crashed through whatever lay in its path, but driven by rage and even faster than before. This frustrated Luffy for upon his brilliant idea to use the foliage to fight his battle for him, he was hoping that pulling the longer branches with him then letting them go into the creature's face would slow it down but it only blasted through them with reckless abandon.

They weren't going to get to the opening before the beast got to them again and Luffy knew this.

Plan B.

The instant he spotted a hiding place small enough for the girl on his back he jerked to a halt and pried her off of his jacket and shoved her in.

"What the crap are you doing!" She called out in panic.

"Just stay quiet and hidden, I'll draw him off."

"But you're not wearing any-"

The boy was gone before she could continue her protest but she did as he had instructed, covering her white dress with some fallen leaves.

Luffy made a daring move, springing towards the charging salamander rather than continuing in the opposite direction. The monster was so caught off guard by this act that it didn't have time to strike at the boy, but only to slow its stride.

The pirate flew over its head, grabbing the chunk of wood still on the salamander's eye and yanking it out as he landed on the other side.

Another hiss-gurgle scream echoed loudly from the beast's throat as it writhed in pain and jerked to face the puny creature that dare oppose it.

"Catch me if you can" Luffy taunted, sticking his tongue out and pulling his lower eyelid down.

As if in response to the taunt the salamander exploded forward, it's wispy growl joining in the chorus of distant monkey calls and another underlying howl that the captain couldn't pick out.

Barely dodging the attack, Luffy was off again, this time away from the welcoming lights and back towards the surface from which he had come. He didn't want to run from the beast any more, he wanted to kill it. That was what he had come to do in the first place after all.

Yet the chase was on once more and he had gone several yards towards the upper foliage before being forced to grab another large branch and parry a blow from the following creature. With the same branch he retaliated, this time stabbing the broken end into the salamander's chest. Another scream.

Yanking the limb back, he struck again, this time sending it straight through the salamander's lower jaw and up through it's head.

The scream was silenced and the beast fell forward, landing in a twitching heap at the pirate's feet. Left sweating and breathless, Luffy grinned victoriously, his face covered in shredded leaves and dirt but for the most part unharmed.

He could still hear the calls of the other humanoids below but he suddenly felt very alone. It doesn't take a long span of time for someone to start feeling the gaping hole left when the people closest to them are no longer by their side.

Loneliness was replaced with alarm within an instant when he heard the scream of the small girl he had just left hidden below. A few fluttering leaves were all that remained in the space he had been standing as he shot back to where he had come.

Jumping from level branches and skidding down the steep spiraling vines, he found himself several feet over where he had been just minutes before and looking down at another massive salamander as it came down upon his small friend still hidden where he'd left her. He didn't know how the thing had spotted her; even knowing where he had put her he was struggling to pick out the white dress from the rest of the gnarled branches.

He wouldn't be able to get to her before the lizard this time so he did the only other thing he could: he slammed his fist into the back of the monster's skull.

A shock-wave blasted out from the force of his punch, the salamander's eyes bulging and splinters of wood spitting out from the crater made by the blow.

The girl below let out a gasp and he knew that it was out of fear for him rather than herself. Something was definitely coating the salamander's body; a thick wet slime that stuck to his knuckles and fingers after he removed them.

Dropping down to join his hand and the girl waiting below, Luffy noted the annoying tingle across his knuckles where the "poison" had touched, though aside from that he couldn't figure out what the big deal was.

"Oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh" the girl chanted in panic as she quickly grabbed his hand and started wiping off the leftover slime onto her dress.

"Oi, hey you don't have to-" Luffy protested before being cut off.

"We have to go! You won't last long with this much on you" she spoke over him.

"This much? There's hardly any on-"

"We have to head back up the tree. This village doesn't have provisions for people already poisoned but Bierrack does and she lives closer to the surface."

Luffy lifted a hand and looked at her with an expression that came as close to that of an adult's he could conjure up.

"You keep saying "we" but I just went through a lot of trouble to keep you safe so why don't you just tell me where I'm going and scurry on home like a good little girl."

"My name's Pan, and you won't make it alone, especially once you've been poisoned." She was doing a much better job of sounding like an adult then he had. "There's no time to argue, we have to go now, and who knows how many more salamanders are on their way after you hurt that last one… what happened to it anyway?"

"I killed it" Luffy replied with a grin, giving up on the maturity act.

"Awesome!" Pan looked awestruck "I've never seen a human last so long against a salamander… none the less kill one. You must be seriously hardcore!"

Now the little red monkey suddenly seemed less mature as well.

"Oh I am" Luffy concurred with a evil grin before frowning down at his right hand which had started to twitch violently, the slime that had absorbed into his skin was no longer feeling "tingly" but now feeling wrong, like whatever had gotten on to his body should never have been there.

"Follow me! We don't have much time" Pan squeaked in alarm upon seeing the twitching appendage. She dashed towards a natural staircase of overlapping tree branches and began scurrying upwards, either not hearing or not caring about the echoing hiss of more salamanders that made its way to the pirate's ears below.

Picking up the feeling of urgency for the situation, Luffy followed after her, glad that his body was still doing what he was telling it to. Yet the seemingly miniscule annoyance of the poison was beginning to multiply rapidly; the former "wrong" feeling finally revealing it's true colors as nerve-splitting pain racked up his arm, it's insect-like tentacles crawling and stretching, trying to reach his collarbone.

The dark-haired boy didn't complain though. Pain was still a welcome friend to him after the many weeks he had experienced without the ability to move or feel at all. As unfortunate as his situation was becoming, he was in the midst of an adventure; something he had almost lost forever.

Another gurgled-hiss sounded through the undergrowth, followed by another, and yet another, all in different locations around them.

A pack.

"Pan you've gotta hide again! There's a lot of those things down there and I can draw them off! Just tell me where I'm going!"

It was the same proposition he had made earlier, but this time the true risk of the situation was before them and he hoped she'd come to her senses now that she realized how much danger she actually was in.

"Didn't work too well last time did it?" she called back in defiance.

"Well if you'd take off that friggin dress you wouldn't stand out so much!"

The monkey gasped in disbelief. "Have you no decency? I'm not gonna just strip for you, you perv!"

"Wha-?" Luffy choked out, blushing a bit but quick to argue back "No! It's just you're a monkey! You've probably got fur to cover up whatever you're worried about; not that you're old enough to have anything to worry about anyw-"

His defense was broken off by a deep moan of discomfort as the invisible ants of pain dug their way up to the side of his neck. Forced to pause in his climb, Luffy gripped the vine he held tightly as the waves of biting agony tore through him.

Pan was beside him in an instant, looking at him with concerned brown eyes.

"I'm sorry but we have to keep moving" she said apologetically as she tried to get his bad arm over her shoulder.

Luffy brushed her aside and mumbled something about being fine, that even he didn't pick up on, then continued to climb.

As if on cue, the sounds of the salamanders trailing them revealed their owners as three smaller salamanders came rushing up behind them, followed by a much larger one (which was decently larger than the first two they had encountered) which must have been the alpha. It was considerably bulky compared to the others, covered with grotesque scars and The pattern on its back seemed to have long since faded aside from the vibrant ocean greens and blues shining from its tail.

The beast didn't seem to be trying too hard yet, apparently training it's younger members of the pack to do the hunting this time as it took up the rear. This, more than anything, made Luffy want to turn around, screwing the poison, and show the monster who the real alpha was. Yet there was Pan to think of. Even though she had come to help him, she would not make it another minute without him there to protect her; and that, in an odd way, was also protecting him from his own bullheadedness.

They were no longer traveling straight up, but were now climbing at an angle, swinging on vines and crawling around large branches as quickly as possible As agonizing as his right side felt, Luffy still had to slow his pace to make sure he didn't get ahead of the little monkey guiding him.

The sun was beginning to set, shooting orange rays through the undergrowth and leaving an even pattern of the fence overhead reflected in shadow on whatever clearing it could get to. The interlinked fence above them stood several hundred feet overhead, yet Luffy could hear the sound of music being played… and aside from the gurgle-hiss of the pursuing salamanders and the heavy breathing of the two of them, there was no other sound to be heard aside from the lovely bellow of the instruments above.

One of the faster salamanders reached them and with a look of giddy, animalistic excitement, struck out with its wide mouth at Pan, only to receive a skull-cracking punch in the face. The beast fell, breaking dozens of unfortunate branches on its way into the black abyss below.

"Are you crazy! You can't have any more poison enter your system! You'll die for sure!" Pan shouted as they dashed off again, the other three salamanders still on their tail.

"But look" Luffy said with pride as he lifted his good hand "I wrapped it with my jacket! Smart right?"

"What? Yes that was very smart… but… take the jacket off your hand right now!"

"Huh? Why!"

"Cause the poison soaks through clothing like water into a sponge! If you leave the jacket on your hand it'll get on you; just a matter of time."

"Gya!" Luffy shouted, flinging the jacket off with a twinge of remorse as his new coat followed the destructive trail of the dead salamander into the darkness.

There was no time to ponder his loss though, for within seconds the next salamander was on their tails. Luffy grabbed Pan by her dress and yanked her out of its reach as the beast swung at them.

The chase was not a graceful one; the pirate and the ape desperately scrambling from one slippery branch or vine to another. Oftentimes they would come to an enormous gap and were only saved by Luffy's ability to extend his reach a ridiculous amount.

That advantage, however, was soon to be lost. Whatever distance the captain had managed to place between them and their pursuers was swiftly deteriorating as the pain crawling up Luffy's arm finally reached his face, digging into his eyes and stabbing at his brain. It was as if the poison's main target had been his skull all along, the former burn that had covered his right side now dwarfed in comparison to the agony in his head.

He couldn't help but cry out, blinded by the stabbing pain pulsing through his temples that caused him to slam into something hard and slick. The added rattling to his skull brought him to his knees as he dug his fingers into his messy hair and wheezed to get control of himself.

Suddenly there were two red arms tugging at his good arm and words that he couldn't make out but sounded like encouragement could be heard beside him. Then he was being dragged along, his feet tripping over blurred obstacles he couldn't react to as his head hung down and his eyes slowly tried to re-focus. What struck him was that every time he tried to focus, his eyes would blur, and when he gave up they would become clear again.

Opposite.

"Seems like it's already starting to affect your movements" Pan said with dread as she glanced behind them. They had made good distance from their pursuers in one impressive leap from the pirate, but already she could hear the salamanders making headway.

"Just remember" she added, hefting as much of the boy's weight on to herself as she could "when things stop working, try to do the opposite of what you want."

Luffy nodded and gently shoved her away to return to his own two feet. No friggin headache was going to force him to be rescued by the child he had come down to save in the first place.

"How far till we get to this… Bear woman's place?"

"It's 'Bierrack', and about a mile that way" she replied, pointing ahead of them.

Luffy nodded only to realize he had shaken his head.

_"Oh this is gonna suck so bad."_

As if to confirm his prophecy, the salamanders, which had gone unseen for the past few minutes were suddenly all around them; their main route of escape blocked by none other than the alpha himself.

Cursing, Luffy crouched and raised his fist; annoyed to discover that he was now standing straight up and his hands rested complacently at his sides.

"I said do the opposite!" Pan yelled as she slammed into him, saving him from the swipe of a thick tail as one of the smaller salamanders attacked.

The pain had not dissipated with the failing of his body. In fact, it only intensified and he began to pant in pain as he struggled to make his way back to his feet, once again managing to do the opposite and slump to the ground.

"Friggin try to stay down" Pan screamed in panic as the amphibian struck again, this time catching the unmoving pirate in its jaws and flinging him into the air playfully.

As Luffy flew upward, his eyes gazed up at the stretch of fence above them, now very close after they had climbed so far. At this rate he knew he would be unable to get the child to their destined safe haven, and once again he was forced to change his plans. He had to escape now. If he tried to stand his ground and fight in his current state they would both be lost. Screw the healer, the girl wouldn't make it if he didn't get her to safety now.

_"Opposite opposite opposite opposite."_

To his relief his eyes were still aiming in the directions he wanted them to, and in his peripheral he spotted Pan, apparently trying to get to him though he wondered what exactly she expected to do once she got him.

He told himself to stretch his arm behind him and to keep his hand closed till it reached its farthest point, then to open.

To his great relief his arm did the opposite, extending out in front of him and closing on the links of the fence above them.

Now for Pan.

He told himself to pull his other arm away from the red monkey, keeping it closed. Glad that he could still tell which arm to do the opposite with, he succeeded once again, his free hand reaching out for the small girl's hand.

This all happened in a very short span of time between him being flung into the air and his decent back down to the salamander's waiting jaws. Upon seeing her rescuer thrown into the air, Pan had scurried past the distracted salamanders and was apparently intending to catch him in mid-air before he landed in the monster's mouth. Considering that he was a good hundred pounds heavier than she was, that plan was nearly suicidal.

He figured they both were rather death-happy at this point considering that his next move would most likely prevent him from getting him the medical attention he was starting to crave with each wave of pain coursing through his body.

Pan was stunned as she looked upon the hand stretched down for her; the boy had adapted to his handicap so quickly she couldn't believe it. Yet she had to take that hand. It had done nothing but keep her safe to that point and she owed the raven-haired boy her trust despite the fact that his other hand was clinging to a fence pulsing with enough electrical currents to kill her.

There was no time for hesitation so without slowing her climb she jumped and latched on to the quivering hand and felt g-forces tickle her stomach as she was rocketed away from the pack of salamanders below that were growing furious with the difficulty their small snack was to catch.

Luffy made sure his cargo was kept away from the electric fence as he slammed his back into it (having told himself to do the opposite which had been the hardest thing he had been forced to do yet). Blue sparks jumped across the entire spread of metal links, the intertwining steel thick and layered.

His instinct telling him to keep his grip on the fence was warring with his brain which knew that he must do the opposite to survive. Losing the battle with his instinct, Luffy found himself falling again, unable to get a grasp on the barrier above them.

"Opposite!" Pan screamed as they fell and Luffy quickly corrected himself.

_Opposite opposite opposite opposite._

The salamanders were coming now, having realized that their prey was much more capable than predicted. There was no more time for mistakes.

Luffy furrowed his brows in concentration, the pain and panic of the situation shoved to the back of his mind as he focused solely on the task he needed to complete to get Pan to safety.

_Opposite opposite opposite._

He ordered his arm to extend back towards the salamanders; it went forward to the fence.

He commanded his hands to open when they reached the links; they closed once more on the metal diamond-shaped coils.

He told himself to pull the metal together in front of them; his trained muscles tore at the fence with super-human strength, ripping the bindings and sending tiny lightning strikes every which way as they lost their paths to one another, free to dance in the open air.

So focused was the captain that he hardly noticed the blaring alarm going off above them, continuing to tear the second layer of fencing apart and feeling the moss and dirt residing on the surface fall across his face and onto his quivering arms.

The salamanders could be heard screeching below, unable to make the same climb with the ever present electricity still coursing through the metal blockade.

Then they were out, Luffy dragging himself through his handmade escape route, not even noticing the broken metal cutting his chest and stomach as he pulled himself up, Pan clutched so tightly to his filthy shirt that she might as well have become an additional appendage.

Even as they crawled to safety the small red monkey remained tense, stuck in a state of shock and fear and holding on to her savior like a drowning man to a life-preserver.

No opposite decision was necessary for Luffy's body to collapse to the ground, completely spent. He had done nothing but climb, run, and jump for the past hour and the poison was taking a much more serious toll than he wanted to admit.

Then the focus of before was broken and everything else came into his observation. There was a loud annoying alarm going off and monkey calls could be heard now. Pan was shaking on his back but he could hear her speaking to him, though figuring out the words was becoming a chore lately.

"-need Bierrack-" she was starting to tug at his arm, "-dying."

Then there were orange, red and yellow blurs all around them, he figured the golden monkeys.

"-please help him" he heard Pan plead with the new arrivals.

Suddenly Pan's weight was removed from his back, her finger gripping to his shirt so tightly that he was dragged upward as she was pulled away. There was no gentle coaxing to get her off of him, they had pried her off and he told his eyes not to focus to see what the crap was going on.

The golden monkeys around them did not have kind faces.

He was upright now, his body quivering as he sat on his knees, trying to find his little friend that he could now hear was yelling in panic.

Alarm bells went off in his head as his blurred vision managed to find the small monkey being carried away by the red fur on her back. She was fighting with all she had but couldn't even get near the body of the lanky golden monkey holding her with an outstretched arm.

"H-hey" he managed to get out, his words beginning to fail him as his body succumbed even more to the poison's effect. "Where're you takn' er'?"

Then without any hesitation or explanation the golden monkey tossed Pan back into the hole Luffy had just created.

There was a brief moment where the blue monkey made eye contact with the captain, those big brown eyes both pleading and worried; for him? For the first time in a good light he got a look at her, her low-saturation blue face so similar to Dalma's, her tail red like the rest of her fur and striped with white stripes. She must have been a red panda form… hence the name Pan.

Then she was gone. Back into the Hell he had worked so hard to save her from.

The gurgle-hiss of eagerly awaiting salamanders could hardly be heard over the blaring alarms, but it rang loud and true in his ears as the nauseating horror of what had just happened twisted in his stomach and he screamed in rage.

Yet instead of the scream he had tried to let out, he heard another sound come out of his throat that did not belong to him.

He was laughing.

If the murder of the child he had just saved hadn't traumatized him enough, his reaction sent such a fear in him he had never experienced.

Now driven solely by his emotional outrage at the situation, Luffy tried to tear back down into the hole and rescue the girl all over again, but the focus required to take any action was lost to the blind craze that had consumed him.

He hadn't even noticed that there were a number of golden monkeys holding him back just in case, for he couldn't even convince his body to fight them.

Heaving with exhaustion, both mental and physical, the mighty captain found himself only able to sit on his butt, supported by the surrounding humanoids who were cuffing him without resistance.

There was a smile on his face.

TBC…

So there's a nice long chapter for everyone. And we're back with some serious Luffy angst.

You guys have been such an encouragement so far! A writer is nothing without her readers and to those of you who take the time to post a review, you have my greatest gratitude. Without you my story would die because no-one close to me likes One Piece and the support just isn't there.

So here are my responses!

Anime lover 3593- Thank you again! I'm glad your sticking with me (though its been a decent amount of time since my last update) but I hope you're still around and are enjoying it ^_^

Darkness34- sheesheeshee, I know, poor Sanji failing to keep Luffy under control. Of course, did Zoro really think anyone could do that? LOL! you know me too well XD I don't think I was too unkind to our rubber friend this chapter _ coulda been worse... of course... the story has only begun :) mwahahahahaaaaa! Thanks again for the support!

x3ArumixIzumix3- yaaay ^_^ I'm so happy ur enjoying the fic! I hope I haven't taken too long to update _ haha! I do love my cliffhangers, but if it matters, there were several times in this chapter I was considering making a cliffhanger but I figured I'd move the story along a bit more... though this kinda leaves on an unhappy note... *sweatdrops* heeheeheee, seems I have a fellow Luffypain fan :) we are an evil lot.

LawLu-chan- annnd, here's some more action! oh thank you so much! I'm so glad you've read and enjoyed For Nakama! this one still has a ways to go but I'm hoping it doesn't take me so long to complete... though knowing me... I've probably underestimated its length. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Too lazy to log in- lol! always a pleasure to hear from you ^_^ and I'm super happy and encouraged you like my writing. I'm trying to get better and with you guys to support me I am motivated to try harder! Here's the update, hopefully not too late.

Zoro's sat nav- thank you for the comment! it's great to hear back from the readers :) hope you enjoy the rest of the fic

ASDFGHJKL- deep name XD lol! thank you! I'm so glad you're enjoying it! ^_^

Anon- lol! you now what's funny, Though I have the basic plot laid out for this fic, I'm wondering how the scolding will go as well XD thanks for the review

Guest- I hope you can! here it is! just a few weeks later!

GreekGoddessHestia- of course he would! Thank you so much for the feedback! I really appreciate it and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story :)

KittyBandit- I miss you my friend :)

Until next time! Love you guys! Enjoy!


	6. The Old Ape

_So Far:_

_SH crew picked up a monkey-humanoid named Dalma who told them of the horrors of the lower-tree they were approaching._

_Luffy promised to defeat the giant salamanders terrorizing his people and the crew set off to the giant upside-down tree Endure Simianus, starting in the protected upper levels to find the protective coating to avoid the monster's opposite poisoning._

_The group split up when they discovered the elevator that went down into the base-levels of the tree. Half headed up to the top of the tree with hopes of finding the coating while the other went down to observe their soon-to-be opponents._

_Luffy broke out of the elevator to save a blue-monkey child named Pan. After a long chase and battle, he was poisoned but broke them out of the cage. He was then taken into custody and Pan was thrown back into the cage to the waiting salamanders._

Zoro, Robin, Usopp and Chopper-

"I've got a bad feeling" Zoro mumbled, more to himself than his companions joining him up the staircase curling around the huge tree.

"You're telling me" Usopp exclaimed in an annoyed tone, not picking up on where Zoro was directing his statement. "Can you believe that monkey made us climb all the way down here when there were elevators we could have taken the whole time?"

The crew had been caught trying to climb the vines back up the tree when a monkey swinging by noted their struggle and asked why they weren't taking the elevator. They were quickly directed to a stairway leading up to a loft a few hundred yards above.

Chopper came to the conclusion that Nami had been a little too harsh on the monkey who had given them directions and that she was to blame for his misguidance. Usopp felt safer to blame the monkey in case their conspiracy got back to the occasionally-violent navigator.

"Well at least we know now" Zoro reasoned as he offered Robin a hand up some vines, only to have her walk by him on a stairway of her own arms. Scowling he continued, "to be honest I was wondering how we'd all get up there at a reasonable time… and leaving Luffy to his own recklessness for an extended period…"

Robin offered Zoro a hand once she had beaten them to the top. He looked at her with an expression that shouted "you can't be serious?"

She just grinned innocently at him and retracted the hand.

"You've got a point Zoro" Usopp piped up, oblivious to the historian's silent teasing, "but I know Luffy always has sense enough at least do the right thing, if not always the smart thing."

Zoro chuckled and nodded, directing his assistance to the two more needy crewmates. Both Usopp and Chopper were capable of making it up the tree, but were always up for an easy lift from their fit swordsman.

The small group made good time and a few minutes later had made it to a hand-crafted level of the Simianus. There was no need to watch their steps anymore, for the ground was even with cleanly cut wood. Orderly rows of shops and houses lined up in pretty rows for a distance, following the turn of the long stretch of walkway that had been crafted to wrap around the huge tree yet keep an even surface throughout.

Despite Usopp's encouragement, Zoro's eyes kept shifting back to where they had come; back down into the depths of the undergrowth. He hated his paranoia. It was his job to have faith in Luffy and to make sure everyone else did as well, so he made note to keep his eyes and mind off of his captain's endeavors.

The doubt was only in his mind and he need only be ashamed if he let his thoughts spur him to action. Still, he was ashamed of these new worried feelings that had resulted from believing his captain dead not long before.

"If your brain's reflecting your face I'm worried you won't be with us much longer swordsman-san" Robin's voice cut into his mesh of thoughts.

He looked up to see that she was right in front of him, her eyes showing more understanding than the mockery he was anticipating.

"What? I'm not that worried" he blurted out defensively.

She kept her eyes on him, not swayed.

"Sheesh woman" he started, rolling his eyes away from hers.

"You thought you were bringing a corpse out of that volcano" she suddenly stated, bringing the memories of the past few weeks rushing over him like cold water. Her frankness shocked him.

"Wha-?" His brain was stuttering for a response.

"You shouldn't be ashamed that you still worry for him. Something like that doesn't just go away."

Realizing his mouth was agape upon its failure to come up with an assortment of words to prove himself innocent of the very-true accusations she was placing upon him, he clamped it shut.

"Oi guys!" Usopp exclaimed from a few yards away "we found the elevator!"

Zoro quickly directed all of his attention to his other two crewmates, running over to them and leaving the historian standing there with a knowing smile on her lips.

Usopp was carrying chopper on his shoulders, the two of them in another world separate to the short interaction between the older crew.

The elevator was lovely, the architecture proving the apes of the tree to be just as brilliant if not more-so than their human relations. The shaft of the lift was dug into the side of the tree, following a tall crevice all of the way up the length of the trunk beyond eye-shot. The pod itself was large, almost fifteen feet wide and ten feet tall. Inside stood a finely-dressed monkey at a wall of buttons greeting the few people walking in. At first they rushed to get a spot on the ride, seeing another identical pillar-way for another elevator that was lacking its pod, surely already somewhere in the vast foliage above.

The four pirates figured it would be a long wait till the next elevator made it to their level so they scurried in, crammed together as not to be separated. No one followed them in though so there was plenty of space to spare.

The monkey, golden as the rest of them with a giraffe pattern on his fur, closed the doors and asked them where they'd like to be taken. He looked a bit surprised when they requested the very top, but nodded with a smile, telling them to enjoy the ride. No money was requested for the ride so they just turned towards the glass windows and did as the man suggested.

The device traveled quickly but was smooth as it rose through the canopies of hanging moss, green-filled branches, and floral outcroppings. Every few minutes they would come to a new civilized level, stopping for a few minutes as some people and apes climbed in or exited the elevator.

It would take almost an hour before they reached their destination; the same hour that Luffy was being dragged into custody at the base of the tree as their two other crewmates battled to reach the dark world below where their captain no-longer remained.

- Sanji and Nami-

There had been a fight; a great fight where two pirates had made a valiant effort to gain control of the elevator system to get to the tree's basement level. Sanji had fought his way to their broken pod and had managed to crawl in as Nami struggled to find the controls for the device. She followed her instinct and tracked any electrical cord she could spot until she came to a separate room connected to the one they were in.

She barged in, dismayed to find that she had no idea how to work a device she had hoped would be a lever and an up and down button. She didn't slow down though, knowing that every second more she took to get that elevator running would be another second her injured crewmate would have to hold off the army of monkeys at the elevator.

Sending off another blast of electricity, she dealt with her own opposition before slamming the door shut. Her years of thieving gave her security in her ability to figure things out on the spot. Rushing over to the large control box, she caught herself on the edge to slow her momentum and immediately began assessing the blinking lights and buttons, pulling her hair back behind her ear to get a clear look.

A red light was blinking and she shifted a few knobs and pressed a few buttons that she knew should be lowering their particular elevator. That was pretty obvious since the control boxes were numbered and theirs was the one with the blinking red light.

She could hear the disturbance outside and shouts of people she didn't recognize. Something crashed behind the door and someone swore. Sanji was still up and kicking it sounded like.

Her agitation grew as every action she took that should definitely have sent the pod down caused an annoying buzzing sound went off. She didn't stop though, wishing that all it took was for Sanji to press the down button in the machine itself, but the fact that Sanji hadn't done so yet proved that that was not the case.

They were ramming the door now and she knew she would soon have to defend herself in the small room soon as well. She clicked and twisted faster.

-Luffy-

There were several levels of the Edure Simianus that had holding cells and prisons for law-breakers. It seemed that the lower the level, the more cold and unwelcoming the justice system got. The lowest of these was on the shelf just two levels up from the caged underworld, and it was there that an elderly golden monkey strolled. Simeon, unlike most of the residents of the upper tree, had golden fur that held no pattern, his aged pale-yellow coat a strong indicator that his prime of life had passed years ago.

There had been a ruckus a few minutes earlier and he, having the time as he was just wasting it on another stroll, decided to wander into that area to see what had happened. The fence-menders were rushing down vines with packs of repair-wire and rubber-handled tools and he assumed that there had been a break in the defense shield. This only edged on his curiosity; fear no longer something that hindered his choices.

Hearing more activity near the judicial prison area, he turned into a narrow set of stairs curling down closer to the facility. There was a small group of security-guard apes hustling along, making their way to the holding cells. He swung from a vine, landing on a branch just feet above them. He was old but dog-gone it he wasn't stiff.

Bending to the side, he struggled to see through the pack of guards, spotting a figure being dragged along by his arms. Connecting the dots, the elderly monkey deduced that the dark-haired human had done some serious damage to the fencing below.

The ape swung down closer to get a better look at the boy. The kid wasn't supporting himself with legs and his eyes were wide open but unseeing. Every few seconds the human would jerk violently and twist around, resulting in a vicious beating from the surrounding guards. It seemed that the more they slammed the kids face and stomach with their batons the more he struggled.

Simeon frowned, his eyebrows quirking together in concentration. He knew off the bat that the police-apes were misinterpreting the boy's actions as a conscious resistance, but from what he could tell it was something physical that the human had no control over, and though he had never actually observed those symptoms, he was pretty sure he knew what the problem was.

They struck the boy across the head again and this spurred the old ape on. He swung down from his observation branch and landed in front of them. He spoke before they could object to his interruption.

"The more you hit that prisoner the more he's going to struggle" he exclaimed, waving his lanky arms at them in a scolding motion.

"Not if we hit him enough" one of the mean-looking grunts said with a grin.

"No! Don't you guys know anything about opposite-poison?"

The guards looked at each other skeptically, clearly ignorant of said poison. At first he assumed they were just idiots, but then he recalled how young he had been when his grandfather had spoken of it to him, and how he hadn't heard anything of the salamander poison since that time.

This kid was in trouble.

"Listen" he spoke calmly, his hands up, so not to look defiant to the officers "he's not resisting arrest, he's showing symptoms of opposite-poison from those salamanders down there. Surely you've noted that the more you conk him on the head the more he struggles."

The guards seemed to catch on, but the mean-faced one spoke again.

"Our job isn't to care for our prisoner's boo-boos. Whatever injuries he attained while breaking the law are his own problem."

"Okay, okay" Simeon pushed "then just let me go get some medicine to help him and I'll care for him in his cell. Otherwise he'll be dead before you can have a trial.

The talkative guard looked like he was going to refuse but another more-compassionate looking ape spoke first.

"Alright, once we have him in custody you may come in and care for him."

Luffy was writhing again and the angry-faced monkey went to strike at him but the leader of the group gave him a look as if to say "seriously?" The guard scowled but held back, tightening his grip on the struggling prisoner.

"Thank you" Simeon said with a bow as he rushed off to get supplies he didn't really know how to use. He'd never treated the illness, his grandfather teaching him at a young age, but knew he had to or the human would be lost.

His house was several levels up and he didn't have time to waist waiting for the elevator to make it down so he set himself a rhythm of breathing and movement and set off, jumping from branch to vine to branch again.

There was a time in his life that he could have made it up in seconds but by the time he reached his porch he was spent and several minutes had passed. He was glad his wife wasn't home or she would be inquiring about his rush and how his every-day stroll had left him so out of breath.

There was no time for explanations. Taking a second to develop a second wind, he was tearing through his kitchen cabinets, grabbing dried fruit powders, glancing at jars and tossing them in his rush. Setting several ingredients on their breakfast table he dashed out of the room and into their bathroom, swinging open his medicine cabinet and plowing through pills and creams till his large hands scrounged together what he thought was all that he needed for the concoction he was hoping to create.

He shoved the rest of the materials onto the table and leapt out the door, knowing he was lacking in two more important additions. He hoped they were still at the market at this late hour but he had to try.

The house sat open and empty for another fifteen minutes, the few rays of sunset still peeking through and clanking off of the old wood. It was quiet.

At the seventeen minute mark Simeon swung in, completely out of breath and hauling a bag of oddly shaped fruits and another small bag of large seeds.

Slamming into the table he grabbed a large bowl and began tossing different ingredients in, his lungs heaving the entire time. He poured an acidic liquid in and some grey powder. In a swift motion he had busted open the fruit and was mashing it in his hands.

Adding a few more ingredients and meshing the squashed flesh of the fruit into a large wooden bowl, Simeon snatched it up with his tail and ran out his front door, slamming it shut with his foot as he went and leaving it silent once more; the only indicator of his rampage the open cabinets and sprawled display of spilled medicine jars and seasoning.

The thick-vined prison cells lining a deep gorge in the trunk of the Endure Simianus did not reflect the serenity of Simeon's abandoned home. At one end of the cavern a fight could be heard breaking out in one of the small chambers as an echo overpowering the moans and complains of the other inmates held there.

Luffy's cell was no exception as his uneven breathing bounced around the tiny room. He had been left on the bed when he first arrived; now he lay in a wreck on the dirty floor, every attempt he made to return to a dignified position resulted in bonelessness, and when he tried to rest his body would writhe and struggle.

Every few minutes he would feel like his organs and lungs would freeze on him and he would fight with everything left in him to tell them to do the opposite of their jobs. Above all of that he was broken inside at the thought of Pan left to her terrible fate. He would never have abandoned her, but still she had been abandoned. His thoughts were not on his dire situation, or how very alone he was, but that he needed to get back to that hole and do his duty as the protector.

Still, his body functioned and he prayed that his suffering would pass despite Dalma's dreaded report on his soon-to-be end as result of making contact with the salamander's poison.

Due to the natural materials used to cage-in the cell, the door didn't creak when his visitor arrived, but he was still aware of the additional presence in his confined area. He didn't bother to look since he couldn't see either way, so he waited till the person revealed their intentions.

Whoever it was seemed to be out of breath and he wondered at who it could be.

He felt himself being lifted, not knowing whether trying to help would only make things worse or easier for this new aquaintance. Attempting to help, his body did nothing, and so he felt he had succeeded in a way as the coarse hands placed him back into his bed. Since the hands were so course, for a moment the captain thought that Dalma had come to help him.

"You don't know me kid" the person spoke, revealing a voice Luffy didn't recognize "and I don't know you, but you're in serious condition if you've got what I think you do. You're probably a bad guy but I feel it would be wrong of me to leave you to suffer or die when I could have done something, so just keep calm and I'll see what I can do for you."

As the older person spoke he was already undoing Luffy's torn shirt and feeling around his stomach and chest. Luffy tried to do as instructed and keep calm but the second he made an effort to do so his body began to writhe again and his eyes bulged in his attempt to shut them tightly.

The leathery hand held him steady and tried to soothe him, which he found frustrating as he assumed that this person should know it wasn't his state of mind that was the problem.

He suddenly felt a cool creamy sensation on his stomach and as he tried to tense away from the odd feeling his arched back returned to the cot and he stilled. With that he was determined not to attempt anything, be it to stay calm or take action.

The large coarse hands rubbed the mush over the rest of his stomach then moved up to his unevenly heaving chest, smoothing it in with circular motions. The lotion stung but he didn't think of it as he kept his brain-dead technique going.

Then the hands were on his face, using the same technique as on his chest and abs. He felt the man close his eyelids and add the coating over them as well. His head was lifted and the rub-down continued down his spine, all over his arms, and down to his legs till almost every inch had been covered. He wondered what color the cream was and how ridiculous he must have looked at that point. The random thought was a good distraction from the intensifying sting covering him now, like his entire body had fallen asleep and was getting the numb prickly feeling he always hated.

"Ok" the man spoke once he had finished "so I'm hoping coating you in this stuff is enough to get you out of danger, but to make sure you're able to speak, and that you're good on the inside, I'm gonna try to get you to swallow this stuff in liquid form to get it into you."

The captain didn't respond but agreed to it in his head and he figured the man knew he had. There was the sound of water pouring into a container of some sort, then some stirring. He figured that was what he was going to drink and he wondered how it would taste since he had no idea what it looked like. He hoped it was blue. He liked the taste of blue things.

The man returned to his side and lifted his cream-covered head again and touched a wooden bowl to his lips. Then, ever so gently, the man tilted his head back and lowered him as he turned up the dish, letting the contents flow down and into his agape mouth.

It wasn't the most disgusting thing he had ever tasted, and he had a vast pallet when it came to edible things so the flavor didn't bother him. It was like a spicy watermelon if he could make up what the concoction was made of. Still, he was completely willing to drink it if it meant a recovery.

The liquid filled his mouth and began to touch the back of his throat. By instinct he began to swallow it only to be disappointed when his body again disobeyed. Instead of swallowing, his stomach began to vomit up its contents of whatever remained from his last meal. With the filth clogging his throat he felt he should have been choking it up, but instead his body just relaxed as the strangulation continued.

"Come on, you just need to swallow it" the man coaxed, clearly unaware of the pirate's peril.

He didn't want to swallow anything anymore. He wanted the vomit out and his body refused to obey his command to finish the vomiting process. So he continued to choke silently.

Simeon had stopped pouring the medicine when it started to flow out of the boy's open mouth; aware that he wasn't swallowing it as he had instructed. He noticed his stomach jolting in a vomiting fashion, but when the criminal remained silent he thought nothing of it.

He waited, hoping the kid would figure out the opposite instruction to tell his brain but the liquid didn't go down on his second attempt and it spilled over again, running red streams down the human's face and puddling on the cot.

Pausing again he sighed, trying to be understanding. Then it was quiet in the room, only the noise from the other prisoners entering the silent cell. That was when he noticed that the boy's chest was heaving but no sound was coming from his open mouth.

"Oh crap!" he exclaimed, turning his patient over and leaning him down so the contents clogging his air pipe would flow down. He then began striking the boy on the back to get things moving. Suddenly a flow of vomit came pouring out of the kid's mouth, even as the poor boy's body tried to swallow it again. Simeon quickly forced the prisoner's mouth open to keep the regurgitation going and shut his eyes to keep from vomiting himself.

When it was finally over Luffy was heaving from strain and his eyes were struggling open. The outer cream seemed to have started doing the trick and Simeon grinned in pride that his homemade concoction had actually succeeded, despite the horror of the situation he had just been placed in.

"Alright, it's alright" he soothed, rubbing the boy's back and slowly returning him to his back and lifting his head once more.

The glazed eyes danced around the room, as if trying to re-learn how to focus. Wanting to be done with his good-Samaritan deed, the older monkey avoided the gaze of the struggling prisoner and raised the bowl to his lips again.

Luffy jerked back, having regained more control than Simeon would have expected. The kid did not want to give the drink another go.

"Don't worry, I won't let that happen again and once you swallow this you'll be able to control it on your own."

He chanced a look in the human's eyes and regretted it upon seeing that the boy's gaze was locked on him like a lifeline.

"Just drink it and we can get this over with" he grunted, trying to emphasize the grumpy old man side of him.

The human gave a slight nod and managed to open his mouth again, never looking away from his helper. This made Simeon uneasy and he made a point to avoid eye-contact at all costs, focusing on his task at hand.

Slowly he tipped the bowl again, seeing the water fill the open mouth he was focusing on. He noticed the stomach heave again and he tensed, ready to take action but then noted that it was a forced reaction. The boy was actually figuring it out. He was purposefully attempting to vomit in order to do the opposite and swallow the blasted medicine.

Simeon couldn't deny he was impressed.

Luffy managed to get the rest of the medicine down and the elder monkey wondered if he should just get up and leave or stick around to make sure the kid didn't kill himself. He didn't want to get caught up in whatever this was, but the boy's struggle had touched his heart and he couldn't get himself to walk out just yet.

That and the piercing gaze that never faltered even through the glaze of exhaustion kept him hunkered in place.

The prisoner's breathing evened out and soon his expression grew more focused. His eyebrows came together and for the first time Simeon was able to detect the boy's inner emotions and it struck him. Soon the human's hands were gripping at the sheets on the bed and a small arch in the teen's back gave off that he was feeling the pain of recovery as his brain re-sorted the control of his nervous system. This time, however, the movements were intentional on the boy's part and that was a good sign.

The intimidating gaze was broken as the convict turned his head away from him and squeezed his eyes shut, opening them towards the ceiling.

What Simeon hadn't been expecting was the flow of tears that began to pour from the human's eyes. He spotted them right before the boy turned his head away, but he had seen them none the less. Was it the stress of what had just happened to him? Was it that he was a prisoner now? If anything he should be happy to have his life.

Still, curiosity pushed Simeon to scoot closer to the boy's side and cautiously ask what ailed him.

"What's wrong kid? You're gonna live now don't you know?"

There was a hick from his patient's throat and a sniffle as the kid tried to restrain his emotions. A long pause followed and for a moment Simeon figured there would be no response.

"I couldn't save her" the boy spoke in a sob "they just… and I couldn't…"

That was definitely not what he had been expecting.

"What's your name son?"

Another sniffle.

"Luffy… Monkey D. Luffy sir."

Simeon wanted to laugh at the irony of the boy's last name. Surely that was the poison speaking but he didn't push it. The boy needed comfort, not correction.

"Alright, now listen here Luffy. I don't know what you've gotten yourself into, but I'm sure whoever you're upset over wouldn't blame you for what happened."

He had no idea what he was saying but he felt a strong urge to comfort the crying boy before him.

"Tried to save 'er" Luffy muttered, exhaustion overcoming the sadness in his tone "she'd have been in better shape without me."

Simeon had no idea how to respond so he kept silent.

This proved fruitful for seconds later he heard the boy's breathing even out and a realized his young patient had fallen asleep.

It had not been a part of the plan, but suddenly he felt a strong connection with the youngster. He wanted to comfort him and make him better. All it took was to touch the life of someone in need and then suddenly he was infected with the odd bond of the caregiver. This, he figured, was what the two of them had in common. The only difference was that Luffy had failed to protect the person he had chosen to keep safe.

This hurt Simeon's heart and he grunted, resorting to grumpy old man again to avoid embarrassing emotions.

Still, he gently patted the dark-haired boy's head and kept his eye on him to make sure he slept peacefully while he could.

**To be continued…**

Sorry for the wait my friends! I hope you guys haven't given up on me. I remember with "For Nakama" I would take a long time to update and lose every one of my followers. I truly hope that is not the case.

Hey looky there! It's not a cliffhanger :D tadah!

No worries, still lots and lots of action to come. Crap still on the way for our beloved crewmates.

Apologies again for not giving Chopper or Usopp much screen-time but their time will come. I guess writing for my fav characters is easier to put first -_-'

Thank you all for the love! A bit less last chapter but I should just use that to get myself to write better and update more often.

Ok! This is when I respond to my reviewers but I figured its more personal if i send direct message responses. So I'll list the reviewers below and respond to the one's who don't have accounts. But the rest of you I'll send private messages.

ALRIGHTY-

epifonia- you're that special reviewer who comes out of the blue and gets me writing again, so special thanks.

Toolazytologin- No worries my lazy friend ^_^ I shall reply here. I know... I'm mean to Luffy if you hadn't noticed. But I try to keep his spirits up ^_^... sometimes... ANYHOO, thank you so much for the encouragement! Telling me what you like makes me want to get better in those areas so thank you so much

Skipper017- thanks so much

LawLu-chan- Thanks :)

Guest- LOL! glad we share passions :) mwahahahahaaa, more to come but I try not to make it too much of a constant. people might start looking at me funny. Thanks for reviewing ^_^

Lneel- oh thank you for the wonderful reviews :) posting on each chapter even when theres another up means a lot!

EternalFire-IceDragon- thank you!

Darkness34- my old friend! thank you!

Natylol- thank you so much! and I love being called Zin-chan or whatnot T_T makes me feel special

Pirate Queen of the 21st centry- thank you!

If you guys prefer my original method let me know and I'll keep it in the chapter :) u guys make the rules, I just write the stories.


	7. Waking and Resting and Wondering Around

**Court**

_So far: Crew has arrived at a giant upside down tree with the intentions to travel to the lower levels of it to save the blue monkey humanoids from giant salamanders. They were requested this from a monkey-person named Dalma who they left on the boat in their travels to get protective coating from the poison the creatures give off. _

_Zoro, Robin, Chopper, and Usopp are headed up the tree to search for the coating at the very top where the Pale apes dwell. Luffy broke into the lower levels but after breaking out, was dragged to prison. Though he was poisoned, he was saved by an old golden ape named Simeon. Sanji and Nami, are trying to get to the lower level to aid their captain, unaware that he no longer abides there._

-Sanji and Nami-

"Namiiiiiiii? Could you possibly maybe hurry things up pretty please my love?" Sanji yelled with controlled impatience as he kicked back another charging ape. The bravery of his attackers had waned but already he had heard them calling for backup and with his injury still blazing across his stomach he was beginning to consider their chance of success. He had been relentlessly slamming the down button in the controls of the elevator but to no avail. There must have been a special lockdown across the entire system because he knew Nami was excellent regarding hacking computers and unlocking safes.

It wasn't too hard to defend the small confines of the elevator he was in, and no one was breaking through the other glass windows. Only his captain could do that.

"Nami! Luffy isn't going to be findable at this rate! If you can't get it to work then we should get out of here before the whole army gets here!"

He hated to say it because Luffy had been his responsibility and he'd lost him. His only reassurance was that the kid could take care of himself and that they'd just meet up sooner rather than later.

Hearing cursing from the other side of the door, the cook took that as an agreement and began to clear a way for himself. If only they'd known the elevator wouldn't work; then they wouldn't have had to fight a battle to get out and he could be napping and nursing his injuries. Still, they had to try.

As he slammed an overconfident monkey out of his way and began to crawl out of the broken elevator, Sanji heard Nami's door unlock and an explosion sent the awaiting guards flying in every direction.

Sometimes he wished he had the hammer of Thor to fight his battles as well.

"This way" he shouted with a wave of this arm as he dashed out into the darkness of night towards an opening that wasn't quite so heavily guarded. He'd had time to come up with an escape route from his glass room.

Nodding, the navigator fought her way over to him first before the two made a charge for the door. It was closed and locked but such trifles had become insignificant obstacles for the strawhats, having picked up on their captain's barge-in-head-first method of getting where he wanted to be.

They heard an alarm going off in the distance, unaware that it was the signal of their captain's return to the surface. Hoping that the civilians weren't vigilantes, the pirates dashed through the dwindling crowd. Since darkness had fallen the path was much darker but still lit by the warm lamps and the glow of the multitude of houses that they hadn't even noted on their arrival, all dispersed like fireflies in the massive branches of Endure Simianus.

Nami offered Sanji her arm though he had given no indication that he was growing weak from blood loss. Still, he was, so he accepted her support knowing that he would need to reserve his energy in case an emergency sprint was necessary.

"Do you have any idea where the crap we should be going?" she asked, looking around for a reasonable escape route.

"Somewhere dark and hidden" Sanji replied as he kicked away a following soldier.

"How're we supposed to out-run monkeys in a friggin tree" Nami asked as they began to run in no particularly tactical direction.

"Wanna cheat?"

"Wha-?"

"Blind them with one of your flashy attacks when we get into a darker part of town. That's gotta keep them scrambling for at least a while."

Nami brightened (no pun intended) at the suggestion, grinning evilly at the prospect of doing something backhanded. She had been the closest of them to being a real pirate before they met Luffy, who kind of changed up the definition of the title with his shameless goodness. Not to say Nami wasn't an incredibly compassionate and kindhearted girl; she'd just developed a mean-streak during her years of lonely struggle and sometimes she seemed to enjoy returning to her backhanded tactics for old time's sake.

"Great idea" she said with a grin as she broke her clima tact into three pieces and began forming a cloud as they rushed along the wooden walkway.

Just getting to where they were had been a constant struggle against a swarm of (thankfully) low-ranking monkey guards. Nothing they hadn't dealt with before, but enough of a bother to keep them on their toes.

Ignoring the voice of a man over a speaker demanding that they turn themselves in peacefully, followed by a warning to the civilians to stay in their homes since there were armed and dangerous criminals roaming their streets, the two rushed along.

At around the time that Nami's storm had grown dangerous, Sanji subtly motioned to a hidden stairway they could slip up during the makeshift flash bomb.

Catching his hint, she let loose the final pair of blue and red orbs into the growing dark cloud behind them. As expected, the blast of electricity lit up the tree like it was daylight; every surface turned white with its glow.

There were screeches and shouts of shock behind them, but the two crewmates kept their eyes shaded and their sights focused on their escape route.

Sanji was half-tempted to use one of his burning attacks on the stairwell to keep them from being followed but he figured that the consequences of the tree actually catching fire would be much worse than them getting caught; not that he intended to be caught.

As planned, the two scrambled up the uneven steps and, upon being out of sight from the pursuing monkeys, began climbing to less-populated branches that seemed to have good cover. Sanji insisted Nami ride on his back for the climb since he was the stronger of the two and so they could keep an even pace going. At first she downright refused, punching him for the stupidity of the idea. Still, building her hostility by claiming that he'd appreciate having her lovely boobs on his back (to make her more willing for him to suffer of course, in no way was that his intentions…no way in the slightest). Earning her disapproval and arguing the logic behind the decision proved to work its charm and soon he was climbing in the dark tree-limbs; Nami with her legs around his waist and her arms over his shoulder (and her back straightened to keep her chest to herself).

He could feel the warmth of his blood trickling down from his stomach wound to his legs and into his shoes, making them uncomfortably squishy as he climbed. Every time he stretched an arm up to grab a new handhold he had a mental vision of the gash across his abdomen ripping farther apart. None of this was mentioned to Nami.

Oblivious he was to her glances down at the dark smudged forming on her own bare legs as they held on to her carrier. She kept silent as well though, allowing him his manly dignity he was so focused on maintaining; even if it was stupid.

They were both impressed with the cook's climbing speed, his unnaturally strong legs sending them up and out faster than humanly possible (and that more than likely went for the apes as well).

As the chaos became fainter and fainter the farther they traveled, so tapered the adrenaline and fear of being trapped and outnumbered. They slipped unnoticed by some out-skirting shacks, the concealing darkness much more abundant than the dim lights coming through their windows.

Nami wanted to tell Sanji to stop and take a break now that they were out of harm's way for the most part, but she figured he knew his limits and didn't want to appear doubtful of him.

Another minute later and he seemed to read her mind, slipping over one particularly thick branch covered in vines and foliage and stooping to his knees. Nami quickly slipped off and moved to help him lie down. To her frustration he brushed her off and twisted to get a better view back where they had come to see if they had been followed.

The navigator huffed, assuming that the stupid stubborn idiot of a cook was intending to stay lookout the entire night. She wanted to just knock him unconscious with her clima tact or simply her fist, but not wanting to harm her crewmate further she decided to go with a more straightforward approach.

"Sanji…"

"Hm?"

"Won't you lie down?" she asked, giving him a chance to make the smart decision before setting a more devious plan into action.

"I'm good, but you need your rest Nami-swan. Shall I make you a bed of leaves and a blanket of soft moss?"

Nami was surprised he hadn't suggested making a bed for the both of them, concluding that he was set on staying conscious.

"Come on Sanji" she coaxed again, this time with a tone that was so innocent and sweet it was blatantly coated with treachery "don'tcha wants lie down."

"Don't worry my love, I'm fi-"

The chef was caught off guard in mid-sentence when his ginger-haired crewmate pulled him into an embrace right into what God had blessed her with.

With that, Sanji lost all forms of concentration aside from the woman holding him. This (as he would greatly regret upon awaking) also loosened his hold on consciousness that he had been gripping so tightly as his wound beckoned him to oblivion. He tried to keep a grip on reality, but Nami laid the final blow as she firmly pressed her jacket (when she had removed it he hadn't noticed) into his wound, sending fireworks of pain through his nervous system. Before he could fully appreciate his situation he was out.

Nami grinned mischievously, lowering her tired friend to a flat area of the thick branch and grabbing a few thick bunches of hanging moss to stuff under him.

"Looks like I'm making the bed tonight" she said sweetly, stretching as she prepared for the long night of keeping watch and patching up her friend.

Creating a few back-up storm clouds around them in case someone did sneak up on them, she formed their hidden defense. The darkness of the clouds blended into the night, practically invisible to anyone not looking for them. She then formed a thick fog to hide them as well. It was a risk she'd have to take not being able to see any coming threat, but she wanted them out of sight more than she wanted to see.

She then returned to Sanji's side, peeling away her blood-soaked jacket and then the blond's as well; followed by his shirt which had been light-green earlier, now stained black.

Nami sighed, wishing for a brief moment that they could all just roam the sea without suffering like they do. And this was ridiculous. He'd been injured by a stinking elevator!

It was going to be fun seeing him explain that to Zoro.

Zoro…

Luffy…

She didn't want to think about her jolly captain trapped down in that God-forsaken cage without them to back him up.

Right now, more than the monkeys or salamanders combined, Nami feared Zoro's wrath if Luffy ended up hurt on their watch so soon after the events on the seastone island they had come from.

She just had to assure herself that Luffy could take care of himself and this would all just be a small hiccup in their plans.

- Luffy and Simeon -

"You leaving?" Luffy asked as Simeon got up and headed to the door.

The older monkey jumped at the squeaky voice, confident that the boy had been fully asleep when he had turned to leave.

"Dang whippersnapper" he grunted, turning to frown at his patient who looked to be in full-recovery. If he was honest with himself he was shocked that his homemade concoction had been so effective. Of course, something about this kid made him out to be impressively resilient. He reminded him of very few of his patients he'd had when he was a doctor. Those were the ones that looked completely lost but refused to let this world go.

He didn't know why this Luffy boy gave off that aura, maybe he was just senile.

"You leaving?" Luffy asked again, trying to sit up.

"Course I'm leaving ya brat" the old monkey croaked as he took a few more steps toward the door.

"You're not a prisoner?"

This raven-haired punk was way too quizitive.

"Of course I'm not! I'm a law-abidin' citizen" Simeon's tail twitched in agitation.

"Then what're you doin in jail?"

The elderly monkey turned back towards the pirate and pointed a knobby finger accusingly.

"I was savin' your sorry butt ya ungrateful punk! Shouldn't even be delvin' into criminal affairs!"

"That was you?"

"Wha? Of course it was me! Who'd you think it was? The tooth-fairy?"

Luffy's dumb stare didn't falter with the ape's shouts, which just caused Simeon to get more flustered.

"It's just" the boy replied, his mouth forming into a thoughtful pout and his eyebrows crunched in concentration "that guy was nice, and you're just a grouchy old man."

"Grouchy old-!"

"Yeah, definitely not you."

"Stinkin human brat! I oughta tan your hide!"

"I can see why you're in here" Luffy continued his thought process, still not reacting to the offended elder.

"Ooooh" Simeon muttered, shaking his head in an attempt to contain himself "you, you… if you weren't bed-ridden…"

Ignoring his one-sided argument, the captain began looking himself over, struggling to lift his arms, but succeeding none the less.

"Daww" he said in dismay.

"What now?" Simeon growled as he officially made his way to the door again.

"I was hoping that stuff was blue." The boy looked genuinely disappointed and Simeon just stared.

"That's it, I'm gone" the ape finalized his exit.

"Kay. Just tell that guy who helped me last night I said thanks! He really saved my butt."

"Alright" Simeon replied, rolling his eyes "I'll let him know."

He reached for the door.

"Oh! And if you could tell my crew that I'm here! They worry you know."

The golden monkey sighed.

"Your crew?"

"Yeah! I'm the captain of the Straw Hat pirates."

Simeon scoffed and stuck his jaw out in disapproval.

"Great, went and ruined my evening savin' a no-good pirate."

Luffy chimed up at that.

"Hey, don't blame me for whatever you did to end up in here. I have that other dude to thank for taking care of me."

The golden monkey let out a final grumpy sigh and finally went to open the cell door.

It was locked.

- Zoro, Robin, Usopp and Chopper -

"Eeeeeeeeee" Chopper squealed from where he hung latched to Zoro's leg. The swordsman didn't react aside from a glance down and a cocked eyebrow.

The crew had been in the glass elevator for a total of forty-five minutes and it had grown dark since that time. About halfway up the tree Chopper had suddenly become very frightened and had started clinging to his green-haired crewmate tight enough to cut of the man's circulation to his foot.

"What're you so afraid of?" Usopp asked dumbfounded as he poked at the small creature's hat.

"We're so high!" the reindeer squeaked back, digging his nose into Zoro's black pant leg.

"What!?" the marksman exclaimed.

"I'm scared of heights" Chopper re-stated the former statement.

"You spent, like, all of your life climbing a friggin tall mountain on a tightrope! You can't possibly be scared of heights!"

All three of them looked down at the deer for an explanation.

"There was snow then…"

"LIKE THAT'S GONNA MAKE A DIFFERENCE!"

"Chopper" Robin's voice broke in, her cool tone contrasting the marksman's disbelief "if you were afraid of heights, why didn't you say so when we delegated who was to go up the tree?"

"He shouldn't be afraid of heights!" Usopp interrupted the thought "before we ask why he came up here we gotta figure out how it's even possible he's afraid of heights!"

"Maybe he's afraid of trees" Zoro pitched in helpfully.

"THAT MAKES EVEN LESS SENSE!"

"Oh wait" Chopper spoke up, peaking his head out towards the window, gazing down into the sea of lights. "…. That's not too scary I guess."

"YOU CAN'T JUST MAKE CLAIMS LIKE THAT OUT OF THE BLUE!"

Zoro just laughed and Usopp scowled over at him.

"I suppose I was mistaken" Chopper said with an embarrassed chuckle, rubbing his head.

"PHOBIAS DON'T WORK LIKE THAT!"

Robin glanced nonchalantly at the ape controlling the elevator. He looked so confused and for some reason this pleased her.

Most of the people who had gotten on to join them had stops before the top so they were left without much company. For those who did come in requesting to go to the top, most of them came up with some excuse to get off early. She was sure it had NOTHING to do with the obnoxious passengers that her crewmates were.

"I would like to get off at the level that has the library on it if I may" she mentioned to the butler-esque monkey. He nodded and pressed a button a few layers down from the top. Already she was itching to know the true history behind the massive tree and the odd division between the Blue, Gold, and Pale monkeys.

Ten minutes, and a few more sets of passengers later, Robin had reached her level.

"Sunrise, the Merry Go" Zoro grunted so she was sure when and where she was expected.

"You boys have fun" she said with a smile "don't let swordsman-san get lost you two" she spoke to the two younger crewmates.

Zoro grunted again, this time scoffing at her.

"Bye Robin!" Usopp and Chopper both shouted out of synch, waving their hands enthusiastically as the doors of the elevator closed. The conductor looked distraught seeing the one sane member of the group leave his shuttle.

It was nighttime so when she turned from the lit elevator shaft, she was faced with an abandoned wooden shelf, possibly miles from the ocean below. It was quiet, most of the Golden and Pale monkeys in bed and the few still on the street keeping to themselves. At that height of elevation the air was moist and cool; a wet haze visible in the lamplights touched her skin and filled her mouth and nose when she inhaled.

Enjoying the security of her crewmates being nearby and the peace of solitude, the historian walked forward, keeping a keen eye open for the library she hoped was still open. If not she'd just have to sneak in.

"Pirate's broke the barrier?" a smooth but deep voice spoke from his balcony overlooking the sea.

"Well, just one of them sir, the captain Monkey D. Luffy."

"MONKEY D. Luffy?"

"We know sir, it's pretty ridiculous."

"But you caught him yes?"

"We did. He'd been poisoned with salamander poison but reports say he was cared for and will make it through the night."

"Mmm."

"What would you like us to do sir?"

"This crime has posed a serious threat to our security. Take care of it as such."

"Yes sir."

"And his crew?" The deep voiced asked, taking a sip from the hard-shelled fruit drink in his hand.

"The two that were with him at the time got away and are hiding out in the tree somewhere."

"HUMANS escaped our ape guards into the trees!? What kind of excuse for monkeys do they think they are?"

The reporting humanoid rubbed his head with embarrassment for his men. For a moment he considered presenting the excuses to his boss but figured it wouldn't better his mood.

"Must have just gotten lucky sir, but once the sun comes up there will be no-where they can hide that we can't find them."

"No, before sunrise I want them caught."

"Sir-"

"We can't make this a public issue. The more time they hide out the more time they have to make friends or tell sob stories for the creatures under the gate. No, we catch them tonight."

The reporting monkey hid his skepticism well, and the shadow across his face from the backlight of the room behind him hid his expression of frustration.

"Sir, how do you plan on-"

"Send out the Salamander Riders."

TBC…

Yay! Another chapter! Short I know... I'm so sorry. and after such a long wait (which was tragic cause this dang thing was finished weeks ago but I could never find the time to clean it up and post it). i've already started on the next chapter, but with college I'm totally swamped.

check it out, a potential villian :D yay!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR STICKING WITH ME ANYWAY! I love you guys so much! I don't deserve your kindness T_T I really hope you like the rest of the fic. It's gonna get really epic eventually, just ... gimme time. over Christmas break I'll be on it like white on rice.

As last chapter, I shall email you wonderful wonderful reviewers personally.

But! I want to publicly thank those who showed me the kindness enough to keep my excited about this. So here are the wonderful people who gave me written support last chapter :)

EternalFire-IceDragon

Skipper917

Chaos is Order (who supported me throughout For Nakama...which means so much T_T)

Darkness 34 (who also continuously supported me throughout For Nakama)

Pirate Queen of the 21st century- (who also supported me throughout For Nakama) gosh I love you guys

Shaded Truths

and last but not least EALM528 (who has been a wonderful wonderful supporter of my writing for months, maybe even over a year)

You guys make writing so much fun :) thank you again and i hope my next chapter won't punish you're kindness like this one did


	8. Judged

_Sometimes I just need a little kick to keep me going when writing is a little slow. So to start off this chapter I just wanna thank the two reviewers that reminded me recently to push on._

_Clarise Boo-man and PinguSuperSquee. Thanks guys for the encouragement I needed to keep going._

_Now! On to remind you guys what is going on._

_The Strawhats picked up a Blue monkey called Dalma who told them of these giant salamanders that were ravaging his people on a giant upside down tree island. So the crew decided to go take out the creatures but needed to get protection from their poison so they traveled to the upper levels of the tree where the Golden and Pale monkeys live, protected by a massive electric fence._

_The crew split up and Luffy ended up rescuing a girl below the fence, breaking out and being arrested by the golden monkeys above after the girl was thrown back to the salamanders._

_Simeon (an old Golden monkey) noted he was poisoned and came to give him medical aid and now has discovered that he is also locked in the cell._

_Robin separated from the group to do research on the tree's history. Zoro, Usopp and Chopper are traveling to the top of the tree to get the protective coating from the Pale monkeys, and Sanji and Nami are resting in hiding after attempting to get Luffy back and causing a scene._

-**Luffy and Simeon**-

"Heeeeheeeeheeeee"

"What the heck is so funny? This is all your stinkin fault!"

"HAHA you're stuck in jail" Luffy mocked, still prone on his cot but clearly taking much joy at his savior's expense.

"Say's the bed-ridden pirate in here with me" Simeon huffed back before he began shouting down the hallway for the guard to come let him out. It made sense that the monkey who had let him in would lock the door after him, but still his fur rose in agitation at the prospect of being locked in with a criminal.

After several embarrassing minutes of yelling that grew in volume as the ape grew more and more impatient, a guard finally made his way down the row of barred rooms to theirs. By that time the other inmates in the prison had begun roaring in disapproval, shouting about the time of night and trying to sleep.

Simeon shouted right back at them as the dull-looking guard made his way over to their door, his grumpy retorts ringing the officer's ears as he yelled past him towards the distant opposition. It took a minute for the elder to return his attention to the guard he had been beckoning for so long.

"Bout' time you got here" he croaked at the frowning monkey in the hallway.

"What's your problem sir?" The man asked lazily.

"What's my-! What do you think is my problem buster?" Simeon roared.

"HAHAHAHAA" Luffy's happy laugh filled in the background noise.

"Shut up!" the old monkey shouted, turning his attention back towards his cell-mate for a moment before returning his anger to the nonchalant guard on the free side of the bars. "Get me out of here! I have a wife back home probably worried sick that I'm not back yet!"

"Sir" the humanoid replied lazily "I'm sure a lot of the people in here would like to get back to their friends and families, but that's not how prison works."

"I'm not a prisoner!" Simeon exclaimed, coming to the horrific realization that no-one had informed this prison-guard that he was, in fact, just a visitor. "Listen, I just came in here to give medical help to this wretched pirate in here. He was dying and I had to come take care of his condition. Look" he said, showing the bowl and healing cream he had created in his hands." He held the materials up in the other man's face and the guard looked down sympathetically.

"It looks like you did take care of this prisoner, but I don't have the authority to let you out."

"Well find out who does!"

"Sir, at this hour-"

"Wake them up! I'm not staying the night in a prison for no reason!"

"I don't have the authority-"

"Screw authority! Do I look like a criminal to you?"

Luffy broke up the argument again. "Come on grumpy, stick around it'll be fun."

"This isn't a sleepover! Sheesh young people these days! Get me out of here!"

The guard didn't look intimidated in the least.

"Sir, for the last time I don't have the authority. You'll just have to wait till the morning."

Simeon didn't give up but the prison-guard was done. The old monkey didn't put an end to his tirade even as the other humanoid walked back down the hallway and disappeared around a corner.

By the time he finally settled down, the whole prison was alive with anger and complaints; the elder ape almost rallying the convicts in the disapproval of their situation.

Luffy was still laughing.

- **Zoro, Usopp and Chopper** -

The top button on the wall of level-showing switches finally lit up, indicating that the elevator the three pirates occupied had reached its final stop at the top of the Endure Simianus. Now there was a sea of lights below them as the only indicator of how high they actually were.

The moment they stepped out of the glass doors they were wet, practically stepping into a cloud at the elevation. It was dark, and though they had enjoyed the sunset on the way up the tree, they had hoped to get a glimpse of it from the top. Usopp had suggested that they might get a view of the sunrise before leaving if they were willing to break the ten hour deadline a bit. Zoro agreed, mentioning that it might take more than ten hours to get the potion in the first place and that the others could figure that out.

Still, their apathy for the time-limit didn't slow them down as they headed out onto the barren root-system of the giant tree. There were no longer leaves or vines to see, and the lights were fewer and far between, but there was definitely much to be observed from the top, even in the dark of night. The lights seemed to go on forever into the distance, disappearing only due to the limited distance the eye could see. Above them was even more stairways and buildings, but they vanished much sooner from above due to heavy cloud-cover. They were apparently just underneath the thickest of the atmosphere, the clouds lit up only by lamps and the light of the moon, creating a glowing world with the moisture particles filling the air.

"This is something else" Usopp said with an impressed huff as he walked on, observing the interesting contraptions he had spotted that covered the root-system. There was a constant sound of running water that surrounded them and the marksman concluded that it was coming from the makeshift aqueducts lining the more vertical parts of the tree. It was clear that Usopp was wishing it were daylight so he could get a better look at the contraptions that made up the system, wishing that the problem with the salamanders didn't exist so he could spend more time up top.

To their relief, there were still several monkeys out and the majority of them seemed to have white fur as far as they could tell in the glow of the house porches and windows. Knowing that the humanoids would be turning in for the night soon they wasted no time in rushing up to the closest bystander and quizzing them on the protective coating for salamanders.

Reception was much more helpful with the pale monkeys of the upper-tree. The moment the lower tree was mentioned the ape they were speaking to became very interested in their involvement with the blue monkeys.

"What would you need something like that for?" The young humanoid asked, leaning in curiously.

"So you know of it?"Usopp replied enthusiastically.

The ape looked around like he was searching for spies, then repeated himself.

"What do you need it for?"

Chopper spoke up in response, not hesitating to give a full, unabridged explanation of their quest to rescue the blue monkeys from the salamanders below. The monkey looked shocked at their proposal but seemed to already have a grasp on the situation, unlike the golden monkeys from before. It was the look in his eyes and the way he glanced around, giving them the indication that they were being watched that implied that the subject wasn't a popular one with everybody.

"Stay here" the monkey instructed as he turned away, apparently assuming they would obey.

The three looked at each other as the pale humanoid rushed into the mist.

"Um, so I'm guessing that's a good sign" Usopp stated, breaking the silence.

"I think it went better than with the first few we asked" Chopper squeaked out optimistically.

Ten minutes passed but the crewmates stayed put apart from their tapping feet and an occasional pacing.

Finally another monkey came running their way, though not the same one that they had met initially. This one was much thinner with puffy sideburns and a thick fluffy tail. Like the rest of the Pale monkeys, he was a very light yellow, practically white, and unlike his other two relative species, his skin matched his fur. Despite his white hair, he looked to be only in his early thirties, similar to Dalma in stature aside from having less muscle mass. He wore black pants and suspenders and looked very curious when he rushed up to them. For another minute no one spoke as he caught his breath, seeing that it looked like he had sprinted there at full speed.

"You guys here about the Salamander coating?" he asked as he swallowed back a few more gasps.

"Yes! Yes we are!" Chopper responded excitedly.

"Well I don't know what you're talking about" the monkey immediately responded, almost physically crushing the three enthusiastic crewmates.

"What?" Zoro demanded, now agitated about the time that had been wasted.

"How about we get to know each other? I'm Snow."

"We didn't come here to meet you!" They all exclaimed in unison.

"Aw come on guys. You seem nice enough. What are you? Adventurers? Merchants?"

"We're pirates" Zoro growled "and as nice as we are, we don't have time to become your pals."

"Pirates?"

"Yes" Usopp sighed rubbing his face "we're the Straw Hat pirates, and I happen to be the brave captain himself."

"I think I've heard of you guys" Snow replied enthusiastically "but why would pirates bother with saving the Blue Monkeys from Salamanders?"

The pirates' attention shot back to the humanoid.

"Wait" Zoro broke in "I thought you didn't know what we were talking about."

There was a moment where the four individuals just stared at each other, Snow looking rather uncomfortable.

"Um, well…"

"Do you not trust us?" Usopp asked.

"Well…"

"We ARE pirates Usopp" Chopper pitched in.

"Umm…"

"Why would he have to be secretive at all?" Zoro demanded, eyeing the ape suspiciously.

"Well I had to be sure I could trust you" Snow finally blurted out.

"And now that you know we're pirates you do?" Usopp exclaimed.

"We'll at least you're honest. If you were trying to trick me you'd have come up with a better alias."

Zoro's eyebrows raised as he found himself agreeing with the logic.

"So… can we have some of that coating stuff now that we… passed the test or something?"

"Follow me" the ape answered, waving them on to join him into the thick mist.

Giving each other a quick glance, they obeyed.

- **Luffy and Simeon** -

"Feeling better I see" Simeon commented upon seeing Luffy rise from his cot. The few hours he had been stuck with the recovering pirate had allowed him time to calm down and accept his unfortunate circumstances.

"Yeah" Luffy replied, stretching out his limbs and wiggling his fingers as if reminding them who was in charge. The lightheartedness that had risen from the monkey's misfortune had left the pirate as he now paced back and forth anxiously by the cell doors. He had already tried to break the bars down but he was still very weak from his suffering the night before and the bars were surprisingly solid.

Simeon had been curious about the boy's troubles but, for fear of dampening his spirits further, had kept them to himself. He could tell that his frustration and stress was not for his current predicament, but for someone else. But this girl, he hadn't been able to save her; so why was he so adamant to get out.

It was around three in the morning that two guards came back down the cell block. They moved silently and made a bee-line right to their holding area. Unlike the last guard, these carried weapons that looked like gun-arrow combinations and were perfectly groomed, their golden fur trimmed with no hair out of place.

"You" one instructed, motioning toward Luffy with his dart-gun "you will come with us. It is time for your trial"

"At this hour?" Simeon broke in, now suspicious.

"You are to come as well" the other guard responded, looking his way. "Since you appear to be a friend of his."

_"For the last time, I have no affiliation with this criminal!"_ he almost shouted back, but his curious suspicion caused him to hold his tongue.

He didn't miss the unreadable look Luffy gave him when he didn't argue. It was like the boy was sizing him up.

"I will warn you now Monkey D. Luffy, this gun is loaded with salamander poison; a poison I'm sure you're familiar with. If you try to resist I will not hesitate to shoot you with it" the guard said in a monotone voice.

With the warning, the guard proceeded to unlock the door while the other stood by, his weapon raised.

For some reason Simeon half-expected the pirate to attack anyway, but the boy seemed to have enough sense to compose himself, resorting to only an intimidating glare.

The other guard then presumed to bind the pirate in thick ropes; excessively in Simeon's opinion. Still, he assumed they wanted to play it safe.

The four of them remained silent as they exited the prison, entering a cool hallway formed out of a hollowed out branch, moonlight breaking through it every few feet where its shell had rotted out.

They passed a few more clean-cut guards but, aside from that, things were very empty. Wind could be heard rustling the endless sea of leaves against each other outside, easing the uncomfortable silence between the small group.

Ten minutes later they came to a larger room, also carved into the tree, where a well-lit court-room came into view. More guards lined the walls and entrance to this room but, like it was through the hallway, the room was empty for the most part. There was a judge and seven Golden monkeys sitting in the jury box. All looked like sticks in the mud in Simeon's opinion; with their backs straight and their noses in the air.

The two of them were directed to the front, Simeon being led to the defendant's table, while Luffy was led to a stand before the judge's pulpit. The boy's eyes wandered across the room, clearly not impressed.

"Monkey D. Luffy" the judge's deep-echoing voice spoke up once everyone was in their place "you have been brought here as a symbol of our passion for fairness and justice. Despite that you are a criminal by trade we will give you a trial to at least state your case before we inflict punishment for your actions."

Simeon kept his face stoic, but was growing suspicious with each word. Why would such a trail take place in the middle of the night?

Glancing toward the pirate at the defendant's stand, he read the boy's expression to be either aggressive boredom or disgust.

"According to multiple eye-witness accounts," the judge continued "we have evidence indicating that you broke our nation's barrier a few hours ago, putting thousands of our people in danger."

Luffy's expression was easy to read now. Rage.

"Your men threw a child to her death!" Luffy roared, interrupting the monkey as he began to explain the threat on national security.

"Control yourself" the ape roared, slamming his hammer against the stand to regain order.

"Those people are dying down there and you dare act like you care about justice!" Luffy might as well have been deaf.

"We care for our own!" The judge shouted back "We are a peaceful people and we do not involve ourselves with the warlike tendencies of another species."

"Don't talk about caring and peace! You're the most selfish people I've seen! You don't care about anyone but yourselves and you only want peace for yourselves at the sacrifice of others!"

"Coming from a human, that is quite a surprising take on the issue. Tell me boy, what authority do you have to command us to put our lives at risk for those animals below? Perhaps we should also search the seas for the fish that are threatened by fishermen."

"If you can't tell the difference between fish and those people, you're more of an idiot that I thought" Luffy growled back, in no way composing himself as the subject of scrutiny.

The judge, clearly offended, gasped in shock; as did the rest of the Golden monkeys in the jury.

"We've heard enough of your irrational words criminal. Your ignorant pride does not change the fact that you have broken our laws on our land and you are a threat to everything we stand for" the judge growled coolly.

"What's that? Murdering little girls?" Luffy replied with a much more menacing growl.

The judge kept going but his voice was louder "Considering your impressive display of strength earlier to tear our electric fencing, we cannot risk detaining you once you have fully recovered, and we cannot trust you to not return if we exile you from the Endure Golden. Therefore, the only other option we have to ensure the safety of our people is the termination of your life."

Luffy blinked dumbly, while Simeon gasped in shock.

"Well can you get it over with?" Luffy sighed, crossing his arms "I need to get back with my crew in a few hours and I don't have time to waist."

Every monkey in the room shared an expression of disbelief; Simeon not knowing whether to inform Luffy that his punishment was death or to go ahead and take a stand against the unrealistically harsh punishment.

"D-do you know what termination means?" the judge sputtered.

"Ummmmm…" Luffy stuck his thumb under his chin and cocked his head.

"They're gonna kill you!" Simeon shouted out, resulting in an immediate overreaction from the shaggy-haired pirate.

"WHAAATTT!?"

"Idiot" the old monkey sighed.

"Hey whoa whoa!" Luffy blubbered out, unable to comprehend a reasonable response,

The judge spoke over him.

"By the raising of hands, do you, the jury, find the defendant guilty of threatening the safety of the people of Endure Golden?"

The few monkeys that presided in the room all raised their hands.

"Hey wait!" Luffy objected loudly before Simeon took over.

"You can't be serious!? You call this a fair trial?" the old monkey yelled in disbelief.

"As for you" the judge continued, directing his attention to Simeon, "what is your association with this pirate?"

"Hey wait! You can't switch to me after that ridiculous verdict! I've never heard that the punishment for damaging the fence was punishable by death!"

"The court's decision is final. Now what is your relationship with this boy?"

"HEEEYY!" Luffy yelled, now in full realization of his situation.

"Are you a part of the pirate's crew?" the judge continued, ignoring Luffy's protests.

"Do I look like I'm a part of a friggin pirate crew!?" Simeon shouted in disbelief. "I'm seventy-seven years old!"

Luffy was blabbering on in the background as the two golden monkeys argued.

"Well then what led you to cure the opposite poison for him?" The judge asked.

"I just saw him being dragged in here, recognized the symptoms and felt I should do something! You expect me to just leave him to die?"

"Wait! YOU cured me?" Luffy exclaimed, directing his outburst at Simeon.

"HOW COULD YOU NOT KNOW?" all of the monkeys in the room shouted, except for Simeon who just slapped his palm to his face.

"Enough!" The judge yelled, slamming his hammer on his desk, silencing the room. "By raise of hand again, does the jury find Simeon guilty of conspiring with this criminal?"

"This is ridiculous" Simeon shouted out, still being ignored.

To his relief, hardly anyone raised their hands. His innocence seemed to agree with majority vote.

"What the heck kind of trial is this?" Luffy shouted out, realizing that his death sentence was being pushed to the backburner.

"The guards will now escort Mr. Simeon back to his home and the prisoner will be taken to be executed. This has already wasted too much time" the judge went on.

Simeon didn't know whether to argue the madness of what was going on or take what good fortune he'd received to be let off the hook. Something inside of him sparked a long forgotten bravery when the guards reached his side.

"This isn't a trial! You're murdering this boy!" he shouted out at both judge and jury.

"Hey old guy!" Luffy cut him off, "thanks for helping me out. Please let my crew know what's happened."

The boy's sober look reminded him of what had drawn him to want to help him in the first place. He'd interrupted him to keep him out of trouble, and had eased his temper with the request to contact his crewmates. A surprisingly kind and wise decision from a seemingly idiotic pirate.

"Dang kid" he sighed, his heart growing heavy in his chest. The guards were by his side now, being a little more pushy than what he would define as escorting. There wasn't much time left.

"I will kid" he said, looking Luffy in the eye "how do I find them?"

He was being hustled out and was now calling over his shoulder.

Luffy had around twenty dart guns aimed at him but was not being taken anywhere yet.

"One lies a lot, and another is crazy about women! Oh, and there's a girl who loves money… and a-"

"I need physical attributes!"

"Oh! Uhh, One has green hair, Nami has a windmill-orange tattoo on her arm, one's a reindeer with a blue nose, and one has a curly eyebrow. There's also…"

The pirate was out of sight by now, and his voice was growing distant. Simeon assumed that he had misheard some things because he couldn't believe some of the stuff that the boy had said. He'd never dreamed he'd get so involved in all of this. If they'd just let him out of that prison sooner. Now he had just promised some pirate that he'd find his crewmates and let them know he'd been executed.

"Dang."

-**Robin**-

There hadn't been many people out, but Robin had managed to get directions from a pale monkey to the tree's library. She didn't know if it would be open at that late hour but she trusted in her pirating abilities to get in via other means.

The library was literally carved into the massive trunk of the tree; reached by climbing a staircase that followed the curve of the Endure Simianus. The door had remarkably intricate carvings expanding out from its frame, flowin onto several yards of smooth bark. Robin placed a hand on the engraving, studying it with the love and care as she would her own child. A quick look-over revealed to her that there was a story to be read in the small carvings of tiny monkeys and other tree creatures in a series of intricately designed patterns. It was a map of their history, clearly designed and carved hundreds of years ago.

Having heard two very different stories regarding the history of the tree, Robin felt a rush of giddiness that only came over her when she was at the brink of uncovering true history. How did the blue monkeys really end up under a giant fence separating them from the rest of the tree's inhabitants? Were the blue monkeys really the ones who started the violence; and if so, when? Dalma sure didn't come across as an aggressive or angry character; nor did it sound like they had any control over the salamanders.

These questions only drove her curiosity, so after another quick look-over at the engravings, the historian gave the door knob a gentle turn and grinned, pleased as the gears of the handle clicked and a soft push sent the door lightly creaking open.

There was a dim glow inside so she popped her head in and gasped at the sight that greeted her. Despite the faintness of the lighting, she was able to see a massive room, stretching for at least seventy yards until it melted into blackness. The massive space was filled with bookshelves, rising up to the ceiling that, like the rest of the room, stretched farther than she had imagined. It was like Christmas for the book-happy historian. She'd hit the jackpot. If time had allowed it, she'd camp out in that library till she'd read the majority of the texts in there. Still, they had a job to do, and even though she knew Luffy would let her do as she wished if she only asked, her desire to please her captain exceeded her own wishes.

Her heels echoed through the spacious room as she drew closer to one of the large candles lighting a column of books. It was quiet and she wondered if anyone was manning the library until the sound of fur brushing against wood reached her ears.

She turned towards the noise and though she was expecting an ape to emerge from the shelves, what came around the corner took her by surprise. The librarian was massive. More like a gorilla than a chimp. She'd seen several librarians in her lifetime, but the expected figure would be that of a petite female character; not someone that looked like he could lift a tank. The black ape was holding a pile of nicely stacked books that he must have been sorting. He barely fit in the isle of shelves, but seemed to be accustomed to the tight squeeze as he easily maneuvered to get a better look at his visitor.

"Hello" she greeted him with a smile.

His low eyebrows raised in his own salutations.

Feeling bold, she cut right to the chase.

"I want to read your oldest manuscripts regarding the history of this country. Where could I find them?"

The massive humanoid's heavy eyebrows cocked; the only indication of his surprise. He placed the stack of books on a nearby table without a word but immediately turned and swiped a thick forearm to motion her to follow him. Grabbing a smaller candle he turned into one of the rows, heading straight towards the back of the room, not even glancing at the shelves.

The historian felt her heart jump with enthusiasm as they walked deeper into the darkness.

-**Zoro, Usopp, Chopper and Snow**-

The trio of pirates were each of them dripping wet from the moisture of the high-altitude mist. Zoro's usually spiky hair was drooping and Usopp's thick black hair was sticking to his face. Chopper looked like a wet dog and was considering switching to a larger point to just look dry for a moment.

Unlike the three crewmates, Snow's white fur kept its soft look with the moisture around them simply beading up on top. In fact, the white monkey's coat looked so silky and fine that it begged to be rubbed, but the crew resisted feeling that it would present a rather awkward situation.

They had climbed further and further from the trunk of the tree, out into the canopy root-system that stretched across the sky. Despite their distance from the main"land", the root walkways were still very well-lit, there were cables and mechanically advanced devices or structures. Snow kept glancing around like he was trying to sneak where they were going, but he hadn't mentioned that they should keep their head down so they resorted to just following his lead, feeling the need mimic his movements. Every few minutes when he glanced around, his tail twitching nervously, they would also glance around, not knowing exactly what they were looking for.

A few minutes and a couple of curving stairways later, they had traveled out far enough that, when they looked down, there was nothing to be seen but a black void. Even the lights from the lower levels were too close to the original trunk to be seen below. The cloud that must have had something to do with keeping the tree alive in its upside down state was limiting visibility of anything even in the moonlight, but had the mist been cleared the sight below them would have been a thousand foot drop into a black ocean.

"So… where are we going?" Usopp finally questioned as they traveled deeper into the thick cloud.

The white monkey stiffened and his hair ruffled like he was nervous as he turned his head back to face them, eyes wide and mouth pursed in a small innocent grin. He looked like he was shocked that they were asking and as if he was completely lacking in an answer.

"Sheesh" Zoro groaned "what's with the panic? You planning to kill us or something?"

"Huh!?" The swordsman's statement seemed to throw the thin monkey. Now he seemed even more flabbergasted than before.

"Oi Zoro" Usopp whispered over to the first mate as Snow appeared to choke on his own tongue, "maybe there's some secret spring that makes this protective potion and they can't talk about it."

"Woooow, really Usopp?" Chopper exclaimed in awe.

"It's definitely a possibility" Usopp replied, kneeling down with an intellectual look on his face "these upside down trees often have magical springs and invisible spirits of lost souls."

"Gyaaaa!"

"Do you have to do that Usopp?" Zoro sighed, now faced with two animals completely lost from reality.

"I'm not trying to kill you!" Snow finally choked out, his fur ruffled up, matching his flustered tone.

"Ugh" Zoro groaned "just forget about it. As long as you remember that we need the protective coating from the salamanders, you could take us anywhere you like and we don't have to know exactly where it is if it's gonna be a problem."

"Really?" Snow sighed, his tail relaxing.

"Yeah yeah, let's just keep going."

"Ok, well we're pretty much there anyway" the monkey said with a quick look behind him.

The three pirates gave a three-sixty look around, faced with nothing but fog and the ground they were standing on.

"Um" they questioned in unison.

"Stay right here. I'll be back" Snow replied before dashing off, leaving them standing awkwardly.

As before, they waited several minutes, hoping that their guide would return. Otherwise they were stuck in a world of fog in a labyrinth of trails in the sky.

Usopp passed the time by telling stories about his past adventures, mainly to the small reindeer with Zoro settling down for a nap. It was getting late, so the others were tempted to join him but someone had to stay up for the anticipated return of their new acquaintance.

A while later, as promised, Snow returned; now with another pale ape. This one looked older and stronger than their thin friend, but he also looked less friendly and more stern. His fur was white like Snow's but he had sporty black streaks curving up his triceps and on the sides of his face. He wore a thick jacket that looked like it was coated in rust, and jeans that were covered in patches. Still, he held himself with a strong air of dignity as he paced over to them, his green eyes digging into their souls.

"Um… hey" Usopp stuttered out, wondering what the heck they had gotten themselves into.

"I'm telling you, I believe them." Snow was apparently continuing an argument they had been in earlier.

"I trust you Snow, but I hardly trust anyone's judgment before my own and this isn't something I'm willing to place "faith" in. I need to be sure before making a risky move" the large white ape retorted austerely.

"Well" Snow added timidly "just be nice. I don't think treating them like the bad guys from the start will help anything."

"We're right here" the three pirates mumbled together.

"You know what I say" the older humanoid stated as he sauntered up to the group "guilty until proven innocent."

"Oi, that's not-" Zoro started before being interrupted by the large monkey.

"Tell me what you want with the salamander coating."

"Don't you know? It sounds like Snow already told you" the swordsman replied, agitated.

"I want to hear it directly from you. To be honest, the story sounds so ridiculous I had to doubt my comrade's report" the man replied.

"Well how about you start out by introducing yourself before you ask us to tell you a full interrogation-style story."

"Zoro" Usopp whispered, his hand popping up between them and the apes "try to be nice. This is really the only lead we have at the moment."

"The name's Seag" the humanoid broke in, not shifting eye-contact from the first mate.

Zoro smiled, then motioned to himself. "Zoro, Usopp and Chopper" he introduced them, motioning towards his crewmates. "We're pirates and we picked up a blue monkey from the sea who informed us of his people's trouble with the salamanders below. All we need is the protective coating so we can go down and take out the salamanders and we'll be on our way."

Seag raised an eyebrow.

"Pretty kindhearted for a group of pirates. If you're making this up, your story isn't very believable."

"You don't have to believe us" Zoro replied, crossing his arms, "we just need to know if you have the protective coating and we'll be on our way."

"Seriously!" Usopp broke in "what's with the secrecy?"

Snow and Seag glanced at eachother, Snow looking like he was anticipating approval.

The larger monkey cocked his head back in the pirates' direction, seeming to be torn between skepticism and curiosity.

"If it's a magical spring we don't have to see it" Chopper innocently popped in his input, causing both of the humanoids to share a completely lost expression, as if the reindeer had spoken in another language.

"I-I mean you can just get us the potion and bring it here" the little doctor added, trying to explain himself.

"Chopper, explaining it further won't help them make any more sense of it" Zoro sighed.

Seag suddenly broke out in uncontained laughter, surprising everyone with the complete change of character.

"Seag?" Snow questioned timidly "did something funny just happen?"

The older monkey took another ten seconds to compose himself; wiping his eyes with his palm.

"It's just" he chuckled out "if these guys are spies… well Chex must have lost his mind."

"Chex?" Zoro questioned.

"Like the food?" Usopp added.

"Ok ok, if you guys come across as any more ignorant I really will have to assume this is a joke" Seag replied in good humor. "Chex is the king of Golden City, and supposedly the entire tree. We have reason to believe he's sent spies to investigate our gatherings."

"Why would they do that? Are you doing something wrong?" Usopp asked.

"Well-" Snow popped in, only to be interrupted by Zoro.

"Can you tell us on the way? It's already really late and we need to get this coating so we can get back together with our crew."

"Of course" Seag answered, motioning for them to follow him as he turned back up the trail that he had come from "we'll talk on the way. I have a proposition for you."

With that said, the group of five climbed farther out into the sky.

- **Chex** -

Chex removed his judge robe, more angered at the pirate captain than he'd let on in the courtroom. That vermin had not only caused a major spectacle of what he had worked so hard to keep under the radar, but he'd also talked down to him as if he were a fool.

Still, he'd proven who was really was in control and who the more advanced species really was. It didn't matter how strong the boy was or what his devilfruit abilities could accomplish; he had overcome him.

Still, he was furious. He'd been humiliated in front of his peers and he still had the annoying issue of the rest of the crew to cover up. But that was something he'd have to leave to the salamander riders, and for now he would focus on making sure that this Luffy character did not leave this earth in peace. He would show him that he had the means to leave him completely helpless and to stomp him into the dust.

Chex was a large man with a coat of fur that was perfectly groomed and was a vividly rich color of gold. His long tail was tipped with white and the rest of his back and arms shared a stunning cheetah pattern tinted with crimson that had been a shared form style from a long line of monkey kings.

He was still having second thoughts of letting the old ape, Simeon, go free, but as much as he could pick and choose the jury to be those who had the same frame of mind as he did, it would have been difficult for him to convince them to convict a fellow Gold purebred. He didn't like the request that the captain had given him to contact his fellow crewmates. Taking reasonable precautions, he'd sent a spy to watch the old monkey and if he did happen to meet up with the pirates they would be one step closer to finding and detaining the fugitives.

Now all that was left was the destruction of the boy. He considered just shooting the pirate full of opposite poison, but it would be difficult to dispose of the body since they lived in a tree. He wanted this to be a very quiet catastrophe and having to deal with sneaking a dead body around would be problematic.

Beside that point, he wanted the brat to think on his mistakes. He wanted him to die seeing what his foolish wishes had led to.

With that in mind, he had devised his own means of riding the world of Monkey D. Luffy.

The boy had been taken to another holding cell with twenty armed guards to assure he was kept there. Now he had informed the guards of what to do and was headed down to address the prisoner before he was sent to his death.

**TBC…**

Annnnd, a billion years later Zinfer updates! I only hope I kept a small few of my readers to keep on with my little tale. You can tell why. Cause there was no action in this chapter whatsoever -_- but alas! There is more to storytelling than action scenes and with a couple encouraging pushes from my reviewers I was able to get these transition/plot points in.

Action for sure next chapter! Don't give up on me. Just like For Nakama, if there's a will there's away, and I can get through this puppy with the encouragement from you guys.

With that! Here's my response to my "no link so no direct response reviewers"

Guest- woo, that'd be fun maybe I could. Though for now I can simply say he'll be very important in the future chapters. Dalma is not forgotten. Thanks for the review ^_^

Epifonia- yaaaay! I love that my new chapters made you happy ^_^ it means a lot! I'm so glad you like my little moments between characters. I hope you're still around even after months of abandonment T_T I am very sorry

Clarise Boo-man- what a delightful review ^_^ I get so happy when I have carry-over readers from my other stories! Thanks for letting me know you like my work :D And check it out, it hasn't even been a day and I updated. See what a few nice words can do? haha ^_^ sorry there weren't any epic battle scenes this chapter though -_-' but you know me, I can't last long without some crazy fighting sequence. It WOULD be hilarious if Zoro also got some lame injury and neither of them want to confront eachother about their wounds out of embarrassment XD *steals idea* I'm glad you're warming up to the Blue monkeys ^_^ there'll be more reason to like them in the future, but also a Gold monkey or two will hopefully be enjoyable as well. We'll see _ thanks again my friend! Your review really brought me back to the story when I was goin a little dry there. So thanks.

Also! A special thanks to the rest of my reviewers! I'll give you personal messages soon, but to save time I figured I'd post the fic and get back with you then (sometimes responding to you wonderful people takes longer than writing the actual chapter).

With that said... THANK YOU:

Shaded Truths

Eternal-DreamWriter

Darkness34 (love you T_T)

Skipper917

EALM528 (and you! thanks for sticking with me)

Pirate Queen of the 21st centry (gosh you carry over reviewers just make me so happy)

PinguSuperSquee

You're all wonderful and I hope that I bring you much entertainment in the upcoming chapters. Lot a crap's gonna hit the fan so get ready :D


	9. Out of the Fog

_You guys are AMAZING! Seriously, after all that time, still coming by to read and review. Things are getting exciting so I really look forward to writing the next few chapters._

_So far:_

_Straw Hat crew picked up a blue monkey from the sea who told them of his people's suffering at the claws of massive creatures called Salamanders. They needed to get protective coating from the Salamander's poison from the upper area of the tree before they could travel into the dangerous territory below._

_The crew got separated and Luffy, in the last chapter, was sentenced to death in a secret trial after breaking a part of the giant fence "protecting" the upper parts of the tree._

_Sanji and Nami were on the run after causing trouble with the authorities when trying to get Luffy back. Now they are resting in a outskirting branch with Nami on watch under the cover of a cloud._

**Attacked**

Nami jolted awake, alarmed that she had fallen asleep on watch. Their mist cover was still up and she couldn't see past a few feet from where they were so the chances that they had been discovered where low. Still, she hadn't woken up on her own; something had her tense.

Glancing over to Sanji she was happy to see he was still resting where she had left him. Surely if something unusual was about he would have woken up for it. She let out a silent sigh and stretched a bit, trying to drag her brain back to consciousness.

Then she heard it; a tiny snap below them. Holding her breath she slowly peeked over the edge of the tree branch and poked her head out, seeing nothing but the foggy covering below. In fact, aside from where they were sitting, the outside world was a dark void, with only a tiny hint of moonlight dancing off some of the particles formed into the makeshift cloud as light.

Surely the sound below had been an animal or the wind. What were the chances that someone had found them already?

Still, Nami moved very slowly and silently as she reached for her clima tact, her eyes darting around for any threat.

Then it came again, another sound, this time much louder and coming from above the two pirates. The snapping of a branch was what it sounded like; that, followed by the rubbing of leaves off of something large. Whatever it was, it had made contact with a multitude of branches all at the same time, much larger than any monkey she had seen up to that point. Nami felt her heart begin to race in her chest as she froze, fearing to draw attention to herself.

Head clear and on full alert, the navigator caught the faint, but deep breathing of something massive as it moved over them. She could see nothing through her own cloud cover.

While she was still focusing on the frightful noises above, there came another from below.

Two.

The sound of a large mass traveling across the wood below was deceitfully faint, but the creaking of timber and the sound of leaves rubbing together came across loud and clear. It was time to wake Sanji up.

As much as she wanted the cook awake, she dreaded the thought of him coming to consciousness unaware of the present threat and making noise. How to wake him without startling him? Considering how things had been before he passed out, he had good reason to wake up tense, but perhaps his instincts would keep him silent. It was a risk she was willing to take, for she couldn't take another second in her little island in the darkness alone.

Very slowly and gracefully she crawled over to her crewmate, keeping her metal weapon high in the air so it wouldn't accidentally strike something. Sanji looked cozy and happy, making Nami reconsider dragging him back to the dreadful reality, but the sound of wet sniffing above her erased any consideration and she gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Mmm?"

It was a small, tired noise, but it was enough for the navigator to thrust a hand over his mouth and lean over into his face with a finger against her lips. They both froze, Sanji's eyes now wide open and alert.

The rustling noises hidden in the fog went silent. Whatever it was had stopped and was waiting (possibly listening) for them to give off their location in the darkness. Nami let go of Sanji and slowly leaned back on her haunches, glancing around in an attempt to see the threat in the darkness.

Sanji also leaned up silently, though unlike Nami, almost taking on the role of the silent predator rather than the prey. She felt much safer with her strong crewmate conscious beside her again, and in addition to this, he was the most protective of her nakama, which was saying something.

The silence was broken by a deep, wet sniff. It sent chills down her spine and led her to unconsciously grip Sanji's arm. The sound they had heard could not have come from a regularly sized creature; it had to be massive. The two pirates held their breath, hoping that the animal couldn't actually track as well as it sounded like it could.

Whatever it was, it was moving again, and it was not alone. Branches could be heard creaking and snapping as a weighted beast maneuvered both above them and below them. Then there was something beside them, on the very branch on which they hid, supposedly concealed. The wood rattled beneath them, the sound of nearby leaves swaying with the added weight. Sanji tensed as, again, the loud sniffing repeated, this time feet from them, still hidden by the mist cloud.

There was another pause, and every member of the dance of cat and mouse went silent again; each trying to hear the other. To be the first to detect the location of the threat would be the first to have offensive advantage. If it had been Nami alone, it would have been another story.

Another deep sniff, now only feet away; then an enormous form in the fog became visible. It apparently could use that nose, for it was now so close they could touch it. The faded shape took form as a dark, salamander snout, slowly crept into the view of the two crewmates.

It's massive nostrils flared as it inhaled their scent one last time before Sanji dealt an earth-shattering kick into its snout, the force of the blow sending a wave of air-pressure into the navigator's face, catching her hair up along with it as it billowed back, clearing the fog like an explosion.

It had all happened so fast that Nami had to take a moment to swallow back her surprised squeak. The moment was quickly stolen as the cook gently picked her up and jumped into the darkness below. None of her crewmate's actions had come with any warning for her sake, and this time there was no moment to compose herself. She let out a shout of fear as they plummeted from their shelter into the space below.

From what they had seen in the darkness, the creature had gone crashing into the foliage ahead of them. It was massive whatever it was, for the collision it had made with the branches and leaves had been impressively loud.

To Nami's relief, their freefall only lasted two seconds before the cook landed on another branch below. The landing hadn't been entirely graceful, but Sanji's strong legs kept them steadfast on the dark outcropping. He must have noted the branch earlier, for she had no idea how he had known it was there otherwise. Sanji was always the one keeping note of his surroundings and how to use them to his advantage, so she found herself wondering why she'd been surprised.

Suddenly Sanji shifted her to his other arm just as another beast shot out of the darkness. Surprisingly, the creature they both had assumed was a salamander kept its mouth shut, simply charging them. The brief instant that the cook shifted his crewmate to his other arm, he also jumped into the air, bringing his two feet up to block the oncoming threat. Therefore, instead of the bone-crunching strike that would have been taken had they been grounded, the blond used the black snout as a spring, letting his muscular legs give to the impact before flying back into the dark underbrush behind them.

Sanji wrapped his arms protectively around his precious cargo as they crashed into a sea of twigs and branches growing into the air. Nami felt their impact jolt her crewmate but experienced no pain herself. Chances were that she wouldn't have noticed anyways due to the stomach-flipping speed in which they were soaring through the darkness. Their crash into something solid was loud and made Nami wonder if she'd unconsciously been injured, but as they dropped down after their flying momentum had been put to a halt, she scrambled nervously onto her crewmate, noting that all of her limbs were functioning without difficulty.

They fell, reaching desperately for something to stop their fall, hitting mostly leaves. A set of hammock-hanging vines could be felt catching them for an instant before snapping under their weight, simply slowing them down.

Then the drop was over. Nami felt it when the sound of feet hitting wood cracked beneath her and a slight give lowered her closer to the branch they had landed on before Sanji straightened up from his squatted position; taking an impressive impact from their fall.

He gently set her back on her feet before dropping to his knees, the wind knocked out of him from their flight. Nami wanted to comfort him, but retracted her hand knowing that there was no time to focus on such things. As if thinking the same thing, the cook quickly straightened up and glanced around cautiously.

"What the heck were those things?" Nami whispered cautiously.

"I think we both know what those were" came his reply.

"Salamanders? But we're above the fence. How'd they get up here?"

"They went right for us Nami. They were searching for us, sniffing us out. I have a suspicion that those weren't wild salamanders."

"Huh?"

Sanji cut her question off when his eyes cut to the right, grabbing her hand and dashing along the trail of the massive branch they had landed on.

Nami caught sight of their pursuers as she glanced behind them. The moon struck this section of the tree with less obstruction so the shimmer of its rays glistening off of the back of some massive amphibian, catching her eye and sending chills up her spine.

"This way" Sanji instructed as they came to a supposed dead end. He had directed her to where the branch sloped off to almost a ninety degree angle into a black abyss. She looked at him skeptically.

His face then transformed, a giddy expression forming as he opened his arms as an invitation for her to hop on.

"Front or back" he stated happily "your choice."

The navigator proceeded to punch the back of his head and sauntered over to the hole, careful of the slick moss and ignoring the dark cloud of depression that hovered over her male companion.

Suddenly an enormous form slammed onto their branch, making it shutter with the additional weight. It looked as just a shadow from the distance that it was, but as it slipped forward the moonlight revealed it's features, leaving the two pirates with shocked expressions on their faces.

A muscular salamander, standing several feet above Sanji's head on all fours, shone before them in the moonlight. It had patterns of brown and red covering its scarred body and its wet eyes caught the rays of light to reveal a warm golden color. The most unusual thing about the monster, however, was the leather straps that wrapped around its chest and shoulders, leading to a saddle where a huge golden ape was perched.

TBC…

Apologies for a super-short chapter. I am actually on my way to Lacoste, France today and needed to post something before I left. Yaaay France! I hope I can get some writing done on the plane or when I get there. I'll probably be swamped with schoolwork but we can hope I find some free time

I finished this lil guy up at about 3:30 this morning. So complain all you want about the length, I tried cause I love you guys.

Do remember, I have fan art and illustrations on my Deviantart gallery. I'm Zinfer. And for those who read For Nakama, I have my own lil mini comic crossing this fic over with some of the characters (Canaan, Paul, and Sky) from there so if you liked them, you can see them in action there.

Thank you all soooo much for the wonderful reviews! I shall get back with you individually again but for those not able to give me a link:

Clarise Boo-man- Yaaayy! You came back ^_^ your first review made me so happy so I was just so glad when you came back and let me know you're still around. I'm glad you're on the same page that I was going for with the feelings of that chapter. With the trial and the prejudice n such. And totally XD it'd be hilarious if I just made the entire story about the blue monkeys being evil true XD and Dalma's actually some evil conspirator using pirates for his own naughty deeds. Haha! We'll see I do have some big intense crap in mind for the end, *spoilers* so your "this is sparta!' statement might not be too far from the mark. Dang it! I've yet to give you an efficient battle. This was supposed to have a butt-load in it but I'm off to France in a few hours and just don't have the time. Still! Thank you so much! I hope you stick around cause I sure do love your encouraging words.

Roxy12333- Thank you sooo much for coming back and writing me ^_^ I hope this update was a bit quicker than the last, even if it is short. Do enjoy the rest if you do happen to still be around despite my slowness

Shout out to my other reviewers who I'll get back with individually-

Shaded Truths (hello ol buddy)

Natylol

Epifonia (and hello again to you ^_^)

Darkness34 (hey! Yup, still alive XD I've made you wait forever for the last fic too. I'm a terrible writer)

Foxxybabe1

Pirate Queen of the 21st Centry (hey again! And I hope your Christmas was very Merry as well)

EALM528- (hello! Are you on tumblr? I feel like you reblogged some of my crap… that'd be awesome XD nice to hear from you again)

PinguSuperSquee

You're all so awesome and supportive! I hope you enjoy the rest of the fic!


	10. Falling

**So Far (since it's been a while):**

_The SH crew picks up a blue-monkey humanoid who tells them of the monster salamanders terrorizing his people a the bottom level of a giant tree-island, that just so happens to be upside down._

_The salamanders have a poison coating so they needed to go the Golden City (a place protected from the salamanders) to get a means to protect themselves from it._

_They split up, Zoro, Usopp, and Chopper go to the top of the tree to find the Pale monkeys who can help them, Robin is checking out the library to quench her curiosity, Sanji, Nami and Luffy went to get a quick look at the lower level of the tree but Luffy, upon seeing a child being attacked by a salamander breaks out in an attempt to save her. Sanji is injured but he and Nami escape from the difficult guards who claim they were threatening the security of the Golden monkey realm._

_Luffy saves the child (Pan) but is poisoned and after breaking through the fence dividing the two nations, he is arrested and Pan is tossed to the waiting salamanders below._

_Luffy is cured by Simeon (an old golden monkey) and soon taken to a trial in the middle of the night and sentenced to death. He tells Simeon to tell his crewmates what happened._

_Sanji and Nami are attacked in the night and are now fleeing from the salamander riders._

_This is where we left off._

**Falling**

SANJI and NAMI-**  
**

Moonlight poured through the Endure Simianus branches like hourglass sand, leaving speckles of pale light across the fearsome duo's back and shoulders. The massive golden ape's eyes were hidden in the shadow of his over-cropping brow. In his hand he held a long spear-like weapon with a hook on its end. His bulky shoulders were slumped, as if the occasion was quite common and indicating that he saw the two humans before him as helpless prey. In no way did he look tense.

Nami was instantly in Sanji's arms, ready to take the plunge into the darkness.

Focused intently on the threat, the cook didn't react to his female crewmate leaping into his hands, but instead swiftly turned and leapt into the black hole that awaited them. The instant he moved, the salamander had shot forward at a shocking speed; its fangs slamming into the vines where they had been just moments before gravity took control of their direction.

Again Nami felt her stomach jump to her throat as they descended at a frightening speed, Sanji riding the black mossy foliage that made up the funnel they had dropped into. The loud crash above them brought Nami's eyes up towards the path they had just trailed, her pupils narrowing in shock at the sight before her. Closing the space between them was the monster and rider, tearing through their rabbit hole like it was paper.

"Sanji!" she shouted more out of fear than warning. She imagined he knew the beast was catching up.

"Hold on!" he yelled as he tightened his own grip on her. By now she had given up trying to figure out what he had in mind so she did as she was told and squeezed her eyes shut, not knowing if it was to block out the sight of their pursuers or in anticipation of whatever crazy plan her crewmate was about to partake in.

With the salamander just feet behind them now, Sanji extended his arm and snagged an outcropping branch or vine (he couldn't tell the difference with the limited lighting) and let it propel them around it and out of their initial path. His shoulder screamed at the abuse but the maneuver was successful as the salamander and rider crashed past them, caught in the pull of gravity.

He kicked his legs, searching for something to stand on. He wasn't an ape and would do much better on solid ground if they were attacked again.

As if on cue, a smaller salamander burst from a cover of leaves just to their left, it's jaws wide open and ready to kill. Sanji let go and prayed there would be somewhere to land within a few yards. His prayer was answered by a mercifully large branch just a few feet below. Another kindness was that there was a clearing somewhere above and the moonlight left its mark on the moss-slick footing. Below they could see the faint glow of some houses. Someone must have been up late.

Seeing a civilized town seemed surreal when they were in such hostile territory being pursued by creatures of nightmares.

The two pirates took a moment to catch their breath, knowing that the posse of salamander riders would be back before they could recuperate. Still, the respite was appreciated.

"What do we do Sanji?" Nami asked, "we don't know where we are and I don't think we can hide from these things."

The cook took a few more gasping breaths, his head down and hands on his knees before straightening up and wiping his mouth.

"I don't know" he growled in frustration "I mean, all this for making a fuss at the elevators? This is so extreme. What kind of society is this?"

There was no more time to think or plan, for the smaller salamander had already made its way back to them.

Nami stepped forward, preferring to fight than to attempt to run from enemies who clearly could maneuver the tree better than the two pirates. Also, she couldn't stand to have Sanji lug her around in his current condition any more.

She flipped out her clima tact and snapped it together in one quick motion. Before the beast and rider had reached her she had accumulated a tail of glowing lightning behind her and sent it forward into the attacking foe.

She could hear the faint shout of the ape-like rider behind the anguished roar of the giant salamander as they were lit up with electricity. The monster collapsed and slid off of the large branch, taking its unconscious partner with it.

"Nice one" Sanji panted out with a smile. She turned to grin back at him for the praise, but rather than the smile she had been prepared to give, a look of horror crossed her face. The cook blinked in concern before he was struck from the side by a massive clawed hand.

The enormous scarred salamander and rider had snuck behind the blond in the chaos, catching him unaware with a bone-crunching swing.

Sanji's eyes rolled up as he flew, once again, into open space; unaware of his crewmate screaming his name.

The rider and beast didn't even glance Nami's way as they leapt from the branch, ready to finish off the greater threat before it scampered off again. The navigator would have none of that as her protective nature took over her fear and she jumped after them with a shout and a newly formed trail of lightning in her wake.

The glow caught the rider's attention as he turned to face her in mid freefall. His cruel animalistic eyes took her breath from her lungs but she didn't hesitate, bringing down her god-like power upon him as she had done her other victim.

Baring his massive ape fangs, the monkey let out an angry screech and yanked out a large shining blade from his back. An instant before her lightning struck its victim, the rider flung the weapon into the air, drawing the electrical current into itself and away from its owner. Nami's heart jumped as she descended towards her enemy, now only holding a metal stick.

The powerless weapon ended up being more useful than she'd though, for she brought it up in a defensive stance just as the ape swung his hooked spear towards her side. A loud clash was heard and she cringed in fear. Realizing she had shut her eyes again she noted that she wasn't impaled, opening them to see that the opponent's weapon had been blocked by her own and the cruel looking hooks were being held off just inches from her face.

The moment of relief was lost when the impact of the blow halted her free-fall and sent her flying to the side. She curled into a ball as she felt herself crash into a sea of leaves, vines and branches. Tumbling over herself she tried not to envision ending up in another free-fall. The thought gave her the will to uncurl her arms and grab for something to slow her movements.

For a few seconds her hands only bounced off of the surrounding foliage, burning with the numerous impacts and cuts until finally she got a good hold on a thick batch of ivy and skidded to a halt.

Catching her breath she kept her eyes shut and enjoyed the respite. She felt something oozing down her arm and for a moment worried that she's seriously injured herself, but upon bringing her other hand up and feeling the area she realized it was a busted fruit of some kind. Another second or so of checking herself over she realized she was covered in the oozing juice.

"Bleh" she expressed silently and she wiped some of it off, though it hardly made her feel any less filthy.

"**Woman!**" the roar of a deep voice echoed up to her from below. Not knowing exactly where she had ended up, she glanced around to see if she was well hidden.

She was.

"**I have your crewmate here with me**!" the monkey bellowed, his cold tone not comforting her in the slightest. Perhaps she should flee now and get Sanji back when the odds were more so in her favor.

"**I will kill him right now!**"

_Or not_

She scurried forward, wanting to see where they had landed to assess her chances of saving Sanji. Her heart rate had shot up when concept of Sanji being killed had been stated. She would not let that happen while she was still breathing.

"**Give yourself up or I will feed him to my salamander. It's not often my pet tastes human flesh and I'm sure he'd be obliged!**"

The navigator peaked through the brush and spotted them several yards below. They had landed on a large branch; Sanji trapped under the monstrous salamander's clawed foot and apparently unconscious.

"**I'll give you three seconds to show yourself pirate! Then your friend becomes fresh meat!**"

LUFFY-

Luffy glared at the poised guards. Why they even put him in a cell when he was constantly having those blasted guns pointed at him he didn't know. There was no way he was going to die at the hands of a bunch of racist monkeys. He knew he could last a few minutes at least with the poison on him, but he wasn't sure if he'd last long enough with it injected into his blood. Not long enough to find someone to cure him surely.

"Tsk" he scowled as he paced the small cell, the guns trailing his movements. Noting this with amusement, he turned to face them. They all looked so tense.

Scuttling to the left, he found himself even more amused as they followed him with the barrels of their guns. A quick scuttle to the right resulted in the same reaction. Observing a pattern, soon the pirate was bouncing around the room, seeing how well his guards could keep up.

"What are you idiots doing?" the voice of Chex could be heard from down the hall. "This is no time to be fooling around!?"

"But sir-"

"I don't want to hear it" the judge growled, reaching the cell and looking in on the prisoner who had come to a halt and was now glaring daggers into him.

"Time to go boy" he said as he pulled keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door.

Luffy didn't blink but stepped forward slowly, an intimidating aura emanating from the pirate. Chex hated the fact that his pulse sped up and let himself believe it was his enthusiasm to kill the brat and not fear.

The monkey didn't consider that it was an instinctive fear, a natural form of self-preservation, for even as he turned and made his way towards the room of execution the boy behind him was tensely awaiting any opening to strike.

Yet the guards did their job, keeping their weapons trained on their prisoner as they made their way through the twisting tree passages.

The carved tunnels took them further and further down, and through one of the openings Luffy noted that they were nearing the massive fence once more. He almost shook with anticipation and the maddening desire to get back to his little friend who had been lost to him just a few hours ago. Why did these scum have to ruin everything? He could have saved her. He HAD saved her; but they had stolen that from him and he wanted payback. Yet he carried on; still their prisoner and if things kept up, he would fall by their hands as well.

After walking for a few more minutes, they finally reached their destination, which proved to be directly connected to the fence dividing the two worlds of the Endure Golden. It was a small metal domed building without windows and with a single door to get in.

Luffy frowned. He hated rooms without windows and momentarily let his mind drift to the confrontation from months before when he'd been held in the underground base by Alvida and that General. Now more than ever he wanted to make his move, but it seemed the apes knew he would attempt to run (as if someone else had tried in the past) and were now aiming at him from all angles including the branches above.

Seeing the room as more of an opponent than a man-made construction, Luffy continued on as if to challenge it. Whatever was in there, he could beat; and then he would destroy the room if the occasion called for it.

The dawn was starting to break and he figured that in a few hours his crewmates would start wondering what had become of him. Still, the sun would take its sweet time.

Chex opened the metal door and the crowd of monkey and one human walked in. The scene was nothing like Luffy had been expecting; rather than an execution chair or some torture device, he could only see an empty room aside from a small latched trap door in the center.

"What the heck?" Luffy questioned aloud as he was pushed forward by one of the guards.

"I've decided to give you your final request Luffy" Chex spoke as he walked to the metal crawlspace and knelt down to unlatch it. "You wanted so badly to be with your new blue ape friends, well we'll let you have your way."

The captain was immediately suspicious, frowning as the thick metal door was heaved open by the judge. He stepped back only to feel the end of a gun in his back.

"What's wrong boy? Don't you want to go be the savior of the bottom dwellers? Having second thoughts?"

"Like I'd trust a rat like you to let me do so" Luffy growled.

The monkey looked angered by this, which pleased the pirate. What an ego this man must have that any insult would get on his nerves.

"Step forward boy" Chex ordered, his voice bitter and cold. The ape wanted to murder him, he knew it, but what could he do? Sure he wanted to get back below the fence, but what was the deal? He was supposed to be put to death, not set free, and the mood in the air implied that the intentions of those present were not pleasant.

"Step forward now or I'll have them shoot you and we'll leave you locked in here till you die."

Luffy obeyed, tense with anticipation.

Walking up to the opening in the ground, he looked down to see a bottomless pit into the darkness below. There were no nearby branches to hinder the drop that he assumed he would be taking, but for a moment he felt optimism hit him.

They didn't know of his devil-fruit abilities! Perhaps they meant for the fall to be the death of him and would unintentionally be freeing him.

He made an effort not to reveal the hope inside of him on his face.

"As you wished" Chex stated again, clearly pleased with his incredibly ironic form of capital punishment, "we shall return you to the world below the fence."

Luffy was now standing with his feet at the edge of the square opening, wondering if he could just jump now and get this over with.

No, he couldn't afford to get shot before taking the plunge.

His gaze locked onto Chex who was circling behind him now, smiling wickedly. Luffy kept his frown on his face though a part of him wanted to laugh at the man who thought himself to be quite clever.

"We will find your crew" the judge said as he stepped directly behind Luffy. The pirate tensed at the mention of his crew but continued to face his pit of freedom somberly.

Suddenly there was a jolt of pain in his spine and he gasped in shock as he felt a needle dig into his lower back. The alien poison returned to him like an old friend, tingling as its devilish fingers crawled their way around his sides and towards his stomach.

He felt Chex grab a handful of his hair and yank his head back so that his mouth was beside the captain's ear.

"And we will kill them" he said darkly before kicking the boy's legs out from under him and sending him careening into the darkness below.

SANJI and NAMI-

Sanji groaned as he returned to the conscious world. He ached all over and tried to go back to sleep but something was bugging him enough to keep him up so he worked to open his eyes. He felt a cool hand on his forehead and found his blurred vision to be increasingly frustrating since it hindered him from figuring out who it was.

Blinking away the haze, the memory of his last conscious thoughts came crashing back and he recalled Nami's horror-stricken face before everything faded to nothing. Sitting up in alarm he immediately regretted his decision, realizing that he had been on Nami's lap and her hand had been on his head.

Quickly he tried to return, hoping she hadn't noticed, but she immediately shifted away, causing him to crash ungracefully to the floor.

"Glad to see you're awake" she said, relief evident in her tone.

"W-what happened" he groaned, rubbing his head.

"Well, we got caught" she sighed, leaning her head back to the wall.

Sanji looked around and confirmed that they were, indeed, caught, upon seeing the bars locking them into the small confines of the room they were sitting in.

"Dang" he grumbled, then in alarm swung his head around to look over Nami.

"Cut that out you perv!" she scolded, covering herself with her arms.

"Are you ok?" he asked with worry in his voice and the navigator blinked in surprise.

"Oh, uh yeah," She replied, lowering her arms.

He sighed in relief and scooted up beside her, bringing his legs up and leaning his arms on his knees. Bowing his head, he let out another sigh, this one sounding more like defeat than relief.

"You ok Sanji?" Nami asked when she realized the cook was clearly not relaxing beside her.

"I failed to protect you again" he answered, his voice breaking a bit. "Just like I failed Robin on that blasted seastone island."

The navigator placed a hand on his shoulder but before she could speak Sanji continued.

"I just always wanted to be the knight in shining armor! Saving the damsel in distress!" He said this with such a dreamy look in his eyes and such an immature tone that Nami couldn't help but hit him in the head.

"Listen to me Sanji" she interjected before she lost the will to comfort the idiotic cook, "you DID save me."

Sanji cocked his eyebrow at her.

"Sure we got caught, but look, I'm fine. No serious injuries or wounds to complain about, which, I might add, can't be said of you."

"But-"

"And don't forget that you dragged Luffy and Zoro out of a friggin volcano a few months ago. You can't go beating yourself up and telling yourself crap about yourself that's not true."

Sanji blinked in surprise at the navigators rare words of encouragement. He felt guilty for forcing her to stroke his ego, but he was encouraged; and if anyone could do that it was a lovely lady.

"Thanks Nami" he said with a smile, blushing and rubbing his head.

The two crewmates made their way to the cot and used it as a sofa as they recuperated from the strenuous night. An hour or so passed before footsteps could be heard coming down the hallway and they both sat up with anticipation.

LUFFY-

The captain struggled against his bound hands as he continued his plunge into the abyss. He was beyond pissed. How dare that pathetic ape poison him and threaten his crew before tossing him. For a judge he lacked any sense of fairness and all Luffy wanted to do as he fell was to get back up there and punch the ape in the face.

Yet there was no sense in getting emotional now. Soon he would hit something, be it a branch or the sea he couldn't fall forever and he needed to be ready to move when he did. Already he could feel the tingling of the poison teasing his nerves and he needed to get to someone who could help him and fast.

What was that ladies name again that Pan had mentioned? "Bear-quack" or something?

He sensed it then. His fall was about to come to an end. Twisting in the air he prepped for landing, seeing the morning light bounce off of glistening water. It was still dim, but it was enough.

A few months ago he would have panicked upon the realization he was going to fall into the sea, but now he could grin knowing that it had no affect on him.

He hit the water hard. Had he been any normal human being he would have died from the impact, but his rubber just gave to the impact as he recoiled into the sea. Water sprayed in every direction, an explosion of foam shooting several feet into the air before sprinkling back into the rippling water below.

Luffy was surprised to discover that he had actually landed on a leafy branch just a foot or two submerged below sea level. His bound hands dangled into the sea which lapped up against his shins where they emerged from the dark water.

Rubber or not, the landing had knocked the wind out of him and for a moment he stood in a tense crouch as he vibrated from the impact and pushed the pain in his back out of his mind.

He looked down to see where he was standing, peering through the rings of white foam he had created into the deep dark world below.

Tensing, he sensed movement in the blackness, then more movement to his right. Gazing more intently, he struggled to see through the rippling water, impatient for it to settle.

Then he saw it, a black shape slowly shifting a few yards down from where he had landed; then another just a few feet away. His eyes widened in shock as every black shadow began to move, revealing the water below to hold a nest of enormous salamanders stretching deeper and deeper into the depths of the tree till he couldn't see any further. There must have been hundreds.

He held his breath and tried to keep still but it was too late; they were already moving. Then there was movement in the branches above him and more to his right.

They were everywhere and they were aware of his presence.

Luffy's eyes narrowed in determination, crouching in preparation for a battle he HAD to win.

TBC…

I'm ALIVVEE! *looks around to see if there are any readers who still care about me* *crickets* I'm so so sorry for the wait my friends! Life has been one big roller coaster since I left for France and I just never got to writing again. I wonder if my hiatuses were this long in For Nakama… hmmmm.

I'm curious to see if anyone is still reading my little tales. Forgive me for my terribleness.

Just compare me to the author of DN Angel and I won't look so bad.

Anyhooooo! Time to reply to people I can't private message and who were superspecialawesome enough to write a review :D

Sweet Spice- Yaaayyy! I love hearing from people who enjoyed For Nakama ^_^ So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for letting me know you liked it! I hope you stay around for this tale. Even if not, I really appreciate your encouragement

Guest- Helloo! I just have to say I'm so happy you like my fanfiction and I'm so impressed that you can enjoy it despite it being in a second language. That is impressive. And I'm also so happy you would also let me know you liked For Nakama! I hope you enjoy the rest. And Luffy's reward rises a few times in the series. The latest is after the war between the whitebeard pirates and the marines.

RoronoRawr- Haha! Yay! Another For Nakama fan! You guys just make me so happy ^_^ Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed it! Storming it isn't a small feat. I found out that that fic is as long as almost each Harry Potter book *except the last one* so thanks for workin through it. I've tried to re-read it now that I'm done and it's a lot to get through XD so thanks. Hope you stick around for this one despite my delay

Also, here's to my wonderful reviewers:

Cyborgnetics

PinguSuperSquee

Epifonia

Pirate Queen of the 21st centry

Guardianstar26

Skipper917

Darkness34

Thanks guys!

And a special thanks to ThetrueAmeliaP and yellowpikmin88 (deviantart) for reminding me that there are still people waiting for my update.

Knowing that you guys actually enjoy my additions to the OP universe makes this so much fun to do.

Thanks so much.

ALSO, I have fan art up on my Deviantart gallery. I'm zinfer. If you have a request of a scene you'd like to see illustrated, include it in your review and I'll see if I can make it happen

Till next time!

Thanks again


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